Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads not guilty in groping case (lawyer) Mark Heller, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s attorney, says the actor has pleaded not guilty in new groping charges brought by New York prosecutors. Heller says the life of the 51-year-old "has been put on hold for four months" before calling for a "speedy trial". Gooding Jr has previously been charged with forcible touching and sex abuse in relation to an alleged groping incident at a New York bar. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES