Vincent LoGiudice pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three counts of assault—two as a felony, one as a misdemeanor—two weeks after charges against the man he allegedly beat during a traffic stop were dropped.

"Judging this case by the video is like judging a book by its cover," William Petrillo, the Rockville Centre-based attorney for LoGiudice, told reporters after his client's initial court appearance.

Petrillo was referring to the surveillance camera footage that attorneys for the driver, 20-year-old Kyle Howell of Westbury, have said shows LoGiudice beating Howell when LoGiudice and his partner, who wasn't charged, pulled Howell over in April. The charges were dropped on the same day that the county hired a police ethics consultant for $675,000 in response to a string of misconduct cases.