"My client is not guilty of this case."
HACKENSACK -- The attorney for a New Jersey state trooper who allegedly attacked a New York man with a beer bottle outside MetLife Stadium plans to ask a judge to dismiss the charges against his client.
"My client is not guilty of this case," said Robert Ebberup, the attorney for Steven Hodge.
The attack, which took place after a New York Giants loss to the San Francisco 49ers in November 2014, left Nicholas Guidi, 26, with a broken nose and other injuries. Guidi, a 49ers fan, got into an argument with Hodge and his brother, according to an Guidi's attorneys, Brian Schiller and Josh McMahon.
They say Hodge, who was off duty at the time, walked away from the argument but returned to flash his badge and strike Guidi in the face with a bottle. Schiller and McMahon claim in a civil lawsuit against the State Police that Hodge's fellow troopers tried to cover up the attack by arresting Guidi on a bogus charge describing Guidi as drunken and violent in a police report.
Hodge declined to comment after a status conference in the criminal case against him Monday in Bergen County Superior Court. He appeared in court with his father.
A grand jury in October indicted Hodge on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Hodge was suspended without pay shortly after.
Ebberup also plans to file a motion calling into question the reliability of someone who witnessed the alleged attack. Ebberup said he disagrees with Schiller and McMahon for their accusations that there was a cover-up in Hodge's case, calling it "an attack on the entire process."
Judge Margaret Foti will hear the motion to dismiss the indictment on June 6.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.