July 26th 2024.
Justin Timberlake's attorney has stated that the famous singer was not under the influence of alcohol during a recent traffic stop in New York's Hamptons. The lawyer is seeking to have the DUI charge dismissed, citing errors in the documents submitted by the police.
However, the Sag Harbor Village Justice, Carl Irace, has ordered Timberlake to be re-arraigned on August 2nd with the correct paperwork. He has also agreed that Timberlake can appear virtually for the proceeding, as he is currently on tour in Europe. As a result, Timberlake did not attend Friday's hearing, as his appearance had been waived in advance.
Timberlake's lawyer, Edward Burke, has stated that the police made "very significant errors" and he expects the charge to be dismissed. He also maintains that Timberlake was not driving under the influence. "He was not intoxicated," Burke reiterated to reporters outside of the court. "I'll say it again, Justin Timberlake was not intoxicated."
The Suffolk County District Attorney's office, responsible for prosecuting the case, has described the issue with the paperwork as a "ministerial error" and has filed an amended charging document on July 2nd. "The facts and circumstances of the case have not been changed or amended," said spokesperson Emily O'Neil in an email.
In a follow-up statement, Burke suggested that there were additional problems with the arrest documents, but did not provide further details. "The police made a number of very significant errors in this case," he said. "In court today, you heard the district attorney try to fix one of those errors. But that's just one, and there are many others. Sometimes the police make mistakes, and this is just one of those instances."
Burke added that Timberlake has a great deal of respect for law enforcement and the judicial process. He cooperated with the officers and treated them with respect throughout his arrest last month. The District Attorney's office declined to respond to Burke's comments, stating that they are prepared to litigate the facts of the case in court rather than in the press. "We stand ready to litigate the underlying facts of this case in court, rather than in the press," O'Neil said.
Timberlake was charged with a misdemeanor on June 18th after police claimed he ran a stop sign and swerved out of his lane in Sag Harbor, a village known for its history as a whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville's classic novel, Moby-Dick. The village is nestled in the Hamptons, approximately 160km east of New York City. According to court documents, the boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor was driving a 2025 BMW around 12:30 a.m. when he was stopped by an officer who determined that he was intoxicated.
"The court papers stated, "His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot, and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests." Timberlake, who is 43 years old, told the officer at the time that he had one martini and was following some friends home. He was arrested and taken to a police station in nearby East Hampton, where he refused a breath test.
Justin Timberlake began his career as a young Disney Mouseketeer before rising to fame as part of the boy band NSYNC in the late 1990s. He later embarked on a successful solo recording career in the early 2000s and has won 10 Grammy Awards.
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