MINNEAPOLIS -- Kirby Puckett, the baseball Hall of Famer and Minnesota Twins executive accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a restaurant last month, declared his innocence Monday after a brief appearance at the county jail.

''I just want to let everybody know that I'm innocent of these charges,'' Puckett said as he left the Hennepin County Jail. ''Let the process play its course. I know I'm innocent of these charges.''

Puckett spent less than a half hour at the jail for a booking procedure and appearance before a judge, who set Nov. 19 for a pretrial hearing. Puckett remains free on his own recognizance.

''Hopefully no one rushes to judgment,'' Todd Jones, an attorney for Puckett, said as he accompanied Puckett to a Chevrolet Suburban waiting outside the jail.

County prosecutors on Friday charged Puckett, 41, with a felony count of false imprisonment and a gross misdemeanor count of criminal sexual conduct.

If convicted, Puckett would most likely be put on probation and given less than a year in the county workhouse, County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said last week.

Puckett is accused of pulling a woman into the men's restroom at the restaurant in a Minneapolis suburb Sept. 6, then groping her. The woman told police Puckett let her go after a friend of hers yelled into the restroom.

Puckett retired in 1995 after 12 seasons with the Twins, his career cut short by glaucoma that has left him blind in his right eye. He finished with a .318 batting average, the best career mark by a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio.

Puckett was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year and now works for the Twins as an executive vice president.

During the brief appearance before Larson, Puckett was asked to spell his name and give his address. His attorneys asked if he could do that in private and Larson agreed.

He will formally answer the charges in court later.