In My Best Perry Mason, I’ll Tell The Witness, “And Isn’t It True That State Senator Ada Smith Only Drinks Tea?”

State Senator Ada Smith’s attorney has crafted an unbeatable defense — she couldn’t have thrown hot coffee at one of her aides because the legislator only drinks tea:

The embattled Queens Democrat, who is charged with third-degree assault for allegedly tossing coffee at former aide Jennifer Jackson, denied the charge to the Daily News.

“I don’t like coffee,” she said. “I drink tea.”

On the advice of her lawyer, Smith declined to say whether she’d thrown any hot drink at Jackson.

Smith’s lawyer, Ravi Batra, said his client’s preference for tea over coffee is well known. Part of her defense will be a January 2005 News story in which she asked a reporter, “Would you like to come over and have tea with me?”

He also plans to ask prosecutors to “cordon off the splatter zone” inside Smith’s Albany office so forensic experts can search for any trace of spilled coffee.

If none is found, he said, the scenario Jackson described is impossible.