Justin Timberlake, center, appears by video during his arraignment in Sag Harbor Justice Carl Irace’s courtroom on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024 in Sag Harbor, N.Y. Image: John Roca/Newsday via AP
SAG HARBOR, New York — Justin Timberlake made a virtual court appearance Friday in his drunken driving case on Long Island, saying little during the brief proceeding as a judge accepted his not-guilty plea and suspended his right to drive in New York.
Police in the seaside village of Sag Harbor arrested Timberlake on June 18 after they said he ran a stop sign, veered out of his lane, and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol.
The former NSYNC singer, who is on tour in Europe, wasn’t required by the court to return to the U.S. for his court date. He is performing on Saturday night in Antwerp, Belgium.
His attorney, Edward Burke Jr., has maintained that Timberlake was not drunk and that the case should be dropped.
“The facts remain he was not intoxicated,” Burke said Friday, according to Newsday. “I’ll say it again: Justin Timberlake was not intoxicated and we’re very confident that charge, that criminal charge, will be dismissed.”
Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace suspended Timberlake’s Tennessee driver’s license in New York state and threatened to impose a gag order on Burke, saying the attorney’s comments to the media have been inappropriate.
Irace set a next court date for Aug. 9.
Timberlake had appeared in court in person previously but his arraignment needed to be repeated because of a paperwork oversight. Burke said the original charging document lacked a police sergeant’s signature.
Assistant District Attorney Ashley Cangro said new documents were filed on July 2 to address that flaw.
Timberlake was pulled over after leaving a Sag Harbor hotel around 12:30 a.m., according to police.
“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,” police said in a court filing.
Timberlake, 43, told the officer he had had one martini and was following some friends home, according to police. He was arrested and spent the night in custody at a police station.