Actor Liev Schreiber on Tuesday denied allegations that he attacked a local photographer while he was in suburban New York filming the popular Showtime series Ray Donovan.
The 50-year-old actor was hit with a harassment violation after photographer Sherwood Martinelli claimed Shreiber damaged his camera when he tried to photograph him on June 7.
Schreiber appeared in a Nyack, N.Y., courthouse on Tuesday with his lawyer to ask a judge to dismiss the charges.
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The judge has set a Sept. 20 court date to decide on the dismissal motion.
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“I never touched him. I never touched his body with my body,” Schreiber told The Journal News outside the courthouse.
The Spotlight actor admitted being annoyed but wouldn’t elaborate on the situation, saying: “I have nothing else to say.”
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Martinelli said that Schreiber started “bobbing and weaving like a boxer, and I thought maybe he’s in a good mood or like joking with me because I’m on a public street and he knows I’m going to take a picture.”
“Then with his other hand he knocked the camera out of my hand,” Martinelli told The Journal News.
The photographer also recalled that the actor “literally charged me and put his body down, almost like a football player, and hit me on the right shoulder.”
Schreiber’s lawyer, Jonathan Ripps, said the actor is accused of pushing the camera away after its flash went off. Ripps says the allegation “doesn’t rise to the level of any law being broken.”
The lawyer said his client would plead not guilty.
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Martinelli was snapping photos at the hearing. He shouted, “Liar,” as Schreiber got into his car and drove away.
“It’s a total, complete miscarriage of justice,” Martinelli said. “It just proves that the justice system … is only for the rich and elite. Because he’s somebody special, he’s getting away with this.”
— With files from the Associated Press
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