Rick James Proclaims Innocence

Just because he has spent time behind bars for assault doesn't mean Rick James had another super freak-out.

At least that's what the '80s funkmeister was saying at a press conference Friday, denying allegations he sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman at his home the weekend of November 9 and suggesting he was being targeted in a financially motivated smear campaign.

Police confirmed last week that they were investigating James after the unidentified woman lodged a complaint against him. No charges have been filed, however.

"Once the smoke has cleared the air, everyone will find out that these are just false allegations," James said. "I feel good, I'm working on albums. I'm trying to be a father to my son and leave all the drugs alone, which if you want to put that into play, I don't do them."

During the press conference, the 54-year-old singer proclaimed his innocence and lashed out at his accuser, labeling her a liar out to make a fortune off his fame by implicating him in a crime he didn't commit.

"I just feel sometimes that I'm in a fishbowl," James, told reporters outside his lawyer's offices. "Sometimes the wrong people enter into your space, and they're money-hungry and greedy."

James went public just four days after police raided his Woodland Hills, California, home (which he shares with his wife and young son), searching for evidence of the alleged incident.

No word on what, if anything, was found, but the entertainer's attorney, Steffeny Holtz, said the allegations were "totally baseless" and "driven by greed."

The lawyer noted that no charges have been filed and added that James' unsavory criminal past made him the perfect target for such accusations.

"[James] is a very well-known entertainer, and he is a very generous person," said Holtz. "We're always suspicious of the financial motives of people that really have very little and come around to him and try to get things from him. So that's the most likely motivation."

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment on the search warrant or reveal details in the case, but one official told the Los Angeles Times last week that the accusations were "of a sexual nature."

For his part, James said he's readily cooperating with police in the matter.

"The police have been very, very helpful in this," James said. "They, like I, would like to get to the bottom of this and find out exactly where this is coming from."

James shot to stardom in 1978 with "You and I" and achieved his greatest success with 1981's chart-topping "Super Freak." But his career was derailed by the usual Behind the Music-style rock 'n' roll excess.

In 1991, he was arrested after tying up a woman and burning her with a hot crack pipe while on a weeklong cocaine binge. In 1993, while out on bail for that earlier incident, a coked-up James tied up another woman at the St. James Club & Hotel in West Hollywood and beat her for 12 hours.

He was convicted of assault for holding the woman against her will (though he was acquitted on a torture charge that would've landed him life in prison) and served more than two years in state prison.

After getting out in 1996, James attempted a comeback, recording the Urban Rhapsody album and launching a tour--but he suffered a stroke in 1998 and was sidelined while undergoing physical rehabilitation.

James has since performed sporadically, including some gigs this year and a tour set for 2003. According to his Website, RickJames.com, he spent nearly four weeks in the hospital suffering heart problems that required the implantation of a pacemaker. Since then he says he's given up cigarettes and alcohol and remains drug-free.