N.Y. Publicist Pleads Guilty in Attack

NEW YORK —  In a case that dominated tabloid headlines last summer, Manhattan publicist Elizabeth Grubman told a judge Friday that she was guilty of backing her luxury sport utility vehicle into a crowd of people outside a Southampton nightclub.

Acting Supreme Court Judge Michael Mullen announced he would sentence Grubman, 31, to two months in jail, 280 hours of community service and five years’ probation when she next appears in court Oct. 23.

Grubman, who could have faced eight years in prison if she had been convicted during a trial, admitted in court to the felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident and a misdemeanor charge of assault.

At least eight of the 16 people who were injured in the incident have filed civil lawsuits seeking millions of dollars from Grubman, and her guilty plea clearly will be an important consideration by the lawyers pressing for damages.

During the brief hearing in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Long Island, Grubman merely replied yes or no to most questions. She apologized for her behavior and candidly told the judge, when she had difficulty explaining what had happened, that she was “very nervous.”

Under the agreement, Grubman will spend two months in the Suffolk County Jail. Prosecutor Joy Watson said she wouldn’t receive special treatment.

Watson, an assistant Nassau County district attorney, told the judge that police didn’t believe Grubman was intoxicated at the time of the incident. The prosecutor also said witness descriptions that Grubman was drunk were unreliable.

Grubman quickly left the scene outside Conscience Point Inn in another vehicle when the crash occurred July 7, 2001. But by the time investigators contacted Grubman, it was too late to test her for alcohol.

Scott Conlon, the club’s bouncer, told police Grubman became upset when he asked her to move her Mercedes-Benz SUV from a fire lane. Conlon said she called him “white trash,” then put her SUV into reverse and backed into the crowd. Some of the victims received cuts, bruises and broken bones.

Focusing not only on Friday’s confession in court but also on the pending civil suits, Stephen Scaring, one of Grubman’s lawyers, stressed that her plea established she wasn’t intoxicated when what he labeled the “accident” occurred. Scaring also said Grubman’s actions were “not intentional.”

Grubman paused briefly as she left court Friday with half a dozen bodyguards.

“I want to say once again I’m sorry for the people that I hurt in the accident and I apologize to their families,” she told reporters.

In September, Grubman, whose clients have included singer Britney Spears, Sony Music Chairman Tommy Mottola and rappers Jay-Z and Wu-Tang Clan, declared her innocence in the high-profile case’s 26-count indictment.

But it was no secret that discussions were underway between her lawyers and prosecutors. And over the weekend, portions of the plea bargain began to surface in the media.

Watson said the agreement didn’t represent preferential treatment for Grubman.

“I didn’t even know who she was when I took this case,” she said.