AP Explains: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. avoids jail
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has resolved his New York City forcible touching case with a guilty plea to a lesser charge and no jail time after complying with the terms of a conditional plea agreement reached in April. AP reporter Mike Sisak explains. (Oct. 13)
AP
Just as a trial was to begin, it was revealed Tuesday that Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled with his accuser, who alleged he raped her in a New York City hotel a decade ago, according to court records. The actor had insisted through lawyers that his encounter with the woman was consensual after the two met at a nearby restaurant.
The trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday with jury selection, as a woman alleged the “Jerry Maguire” star met her in a New York City restaurant, persuaded her to join him at his hotel and convinced her to stop at his room to change clothing.
The Jane Doe accuser, who Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled would have to reveal her name at trial, said in her lawsuit that Gooding raped her in his room. His lawyers, though, insist that it was consensual sex and that she bragged afterward to others that she had sex with a celebrity.
The lawsuit sought $6 million in damages. Attorney Gloria Allred, one of several representing the woman, declined comment.
Here are the details about the case that led up to the settlement.
More: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads guilty to forcibly touching woman at NY nightclub
Why was Cuba Gooding Jr. going to court?
The actor was accused of rape in a lawsuit brought forward by a woman whose lawyers said she was entitled to $2 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages for the “significant emotional distress” she suffered after meeting Gooding.
The introduction to accuser Jane Doe occurred in August 2013 when she met the actor in the VIP lounge of a restaurant in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan and agreed to join him with a friend of hers at a nearby hotel bar, according to court papers.
But, once at the hotel, and before her friend arrived, Jane Doe was encouraged to proceed to Gooding’s hotel room so the actor could change his clothing and they could return downstairs to meet her friend, the court papers said.
The lawsuit alleged Gooding got violent in the room, pushing the woman onto the bed and forcibly raping her while ignoring her pleas for him to stop.
Who was expected to testify in Cuba Gooding Jr.’s civil rape trial?
Prior to the trial, Crotty ruled that he would let three women testify during Gooding’s trial.
The women were expected to say on the stand that they also were subjected to sudden sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults after meeting Gooding in social settings such as festivals, bars, nightclubs and restaurants. Authorities say Gooding has been accused of committing sexual misconduct against more than 30 other women, including groping, unwanted kissing and other inappropriate behavior.
One of the women who was planning to testify at the trial is Kelsey Harbert, who told police Gooding fondled her without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square in 2019.
Harbert said last year after Gooding pleaded guilty in New York state court to a charge that spared him from jail or a criminal history that never getting her day in court was “more disappointing than words can say.”
What has Gooding said about the incident?
The actor and his legal team have denied all accusations of rape, saying that the two had consensual sex in his hotel room.
In February, Gooding’s lawyer said the defense at trial would push against the plaintiff’s allegations by relying in part on testimony by two former owners of the restaurant where she met Gooding who will say she returned late that evening to boast that she’d had sex with a celebrity.
Outside court, Becker and another defense attorney, Edward Vincent Sapone, said that a third witness, a former female bartender at the restaurant, could also testify about the woman’s return to the restaurant and what she said.
What other legal troubles has Cuba Gooding Jr. faced?
The Oscar-winning actor plead guilty in April 2022 to a misdemeanor, admitting he forcibly kissed a worker at a New York nightclub in 2018.
The guilty plea allowed Gooding to escape jail time after courts said he complied with the terms of a conditional agreement that saw him plead to charges involving just one of what prosecutors have said were allegations from at least 30 women, many at New York City nightspots.
By staying out of trouble and completing six months of alcohol and behavioral counseling, Gooding was permitted to withdraw his guilty plea and plead guilty to a non-criminal harassment violation, eliminating his criminal record and preventing further penalties.
Gooding was arrested in 2019 among a profusion of Hollywood heavyweights accused of wrongdoing during the #MeToo movement.
More details on Cuba Gooding Jr.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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