Justin Timberlake‘s hearing for his driving while impaired (DWI) case on Friday did not go as planned for the pop star.
The member of NSYNC lost his ability to drive in New York State because he refused to take a breathalyzer test when police stopped him in the Hamptons on June 18. The length of the ban has not been decided yet.
Timberlake, who is in the middle of a world tour at the moment, virtually attended the event from Antwerp, Belgium. The singer of “Suit & Tie” showed up for the hearing via video conference in a black collared shirt.
During the hearing, his lawyer was also scolded for making “irresponsible” comments at the previous hearing. Irace told Edward Burke Jr., the singer’s lawyer, that his comment “comes off as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins.”
Justin Timberlake's license suspended in DWI arrest; pleads not guilty for 2nd time https://t.co/RWiiLNetQZ
— ABC11 EyewitnessNews (@ABC11_WTVD) August 3, 2024
Not only that, but the judge even said he would issue a gag order if the lawyer kept acting that way.
Burke pushed the idea that Timberlake was “not drunk” at the time of the June 18 incident at the last meeting.
A little more than a month ago, the pop star was pulled over for failing sobriety tests while driving. The Sag Harbor hearing in New York lasted for about thirty minutes. On the spot, he was caught for DWI early in the morning on a Tuesday in the Hamptons on Long Island.
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More on the DWI case of Justin Timberlake
Timberlake said at the time that he had only had “one martini” before being pulled over. His next court date in this case will be a lawyer conference on Friday, August 9. He has pleaded not guilty.
At the end of the meeting, the judge told the pop star’s lawyer again that he needed to “raise the bar, not lower it.” Irace also scolded Burke Jr. and said that if Burke Jr. kept making “irresponsible” claims to the media, he might make Timberlake show up in person for future meetings. Burke eventually took back his request to throw out the case. The judge had said before that he would look over the move, but it seemed like the arraignment would go ahead as planned.
Justin Timberlake licence suspended in drink-driving case https://t.co/aIE3es9Oua
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 2, 2024
A new story from TMZ earlier this week said that police let one of Timberlake’s drinking buddies take his rented BMW and drive it to their house after he was arrested.
This gave Timberlake’s lawyer more evidence to support his defense. The report said it seemed like Burke would shift the focus of the case to how cops made a mistake by letting the person Timberlake had been drinking with that night at The American Hotel drive off without a problem while treating the singer’s situation differently.
The star from “The Social Network” is facing a first-time DWI charge. He could go to jail for up to a year and have to pay a $2,500 fine. As was made clear in the most recent court case, Timberlake has already lost the right to drive in New York.