RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — An emotional Lizzie Grubman apologized Thursday for any pain and suffering she caused 16 people she struck when she backed into them with her father's Mercedes SUV outside a Hamptons Nightclub last July.

"I want to say something. I just want to say how absolutely sorry I am that innocent people got hurt that night," Grubman, the 31-year-old celebrity publicist and daughter of entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman, said through her tears. "Please tell them and please tell their families how terrible I feel. I felt this way since this happened. I'm so sorry."

Grubman greets reporters Thursday.

Grubman, whose client list has included Britney Spears and rapper Jay-Z, made the unexpected statement as she emerged from the Suffolk County, N.Y., courtroom Thursday morning to find a crowd of reporters and television cameras.

Suffolk County Court Judge John Mullin had just informed Grubman that he will let her know on Aug. 16 when she will stand trial for a 26-count indictment that includes charges of assault, vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated.

After she spoke, Grubman, wearing a powder blue pantsuit, continued sobbing and rested her head on the shoulder of her lawyer, Stephen Scaring, as she walked with him from the courthouse to a black Chevrolet Suburban waiting for her in the parking lot.

Grubman leaves the courtroom Thursday.

On the night of the incident, July 7, 2001, Grubman was driving a black $70,000 Mercedes SUV that belonged to her father. Witnesses told police that Grubman became upset at the Conscience Point Inn, a popular night spot in Southampton, when the club bouncer asked her to move her vehicle from a fire lane.

Grubman allegedly shouted "white trash" before putting the car in gear and hitting the accelerator. The SUV lurched backward and struck a crowd of people waiting to get inside the nightclub.

According to the indictment and numerous lawsuits filed after the crash, 16 people were treated for injuries, which included broken bones and scrapes.

Scaring told Courttv.com that he believes the case will go to trial and that his strategy will be to attack the driving while intoxicated charge, which he says is the key to whether Grubman was criminally reckless. Grubman and her lawyers maintain that the incident was an accident and that she inadvertently put the vehicle in reverse.

When Grubman entered the courthouse at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, she was composed and wasn't talking. She replied "no comment" when someone in the crowd asked whether she was prepared to go to prison.

After her lawyer and the prosecutor finished a 15-minute conference in the judge's chambers, Grubman looked sullen and briefly addressed reporters. She said that she has always felt sorry for what happened and asked that her feelings be conveyed to the victims.

If convicted of the most serious felonies, prosecutors say Grubman could face more than eight years in a state prison.