UPDATED with details: Justin Timberlake will be arraigned next Friday on a drunken driving charge in June in this riverside village about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from New York City, and the pop singer will appear in court virtually, via a remote link while he is on tour in Europe, a judge ruled Friday.
Sag Harbor Village Judge Carl Irace also agreed to consider a motion by Timberlake’s attorney, Edward D. Burke Jr., to dismiss the case outright based on what Burke called a procedurally “defective” criminal complaint filed by the Sag Harbor Village police officer who arrested Timberlake.
Burke said the local police department failed to get a supervising officer to sign the criminal complaint that detailed the “young” “part-time” officer’s interactions with Timberlake.
Irace said the indictment would proceed based on a revised criminal complaint filed earlier in July by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. One prosecutor, Ashley Cangro, said the paperwork issue raised by Burke was “irrelevant to the facts of the case.”
Timberlake is scheduled to perform tonight in Krakow, Poland. Irace briefly interrupted the half-hour hearing so Burke could find a suitable court date next week for his client. “Find a day — whoever you need to talk to — we can do a video appearance with your client.”
Timberlake’s hearing took place between a series of local traffic cases, as defendants, some with attorneys and others without, filed in and out of the village’s second-floor courtroom, which seats about 30 people at full capacity.
Outside the red-brick municipal building that houses the court, Burke told reporters: “The most important thing we have to say today is obviously that Justin should not have been arrested for drunk driving. The police made a number of very significant mistakes in this case, and you heard the district attorney try to correct one of those mistakes this morning on the courthouse floor.”
Burke stressed that his client respects law enforcement and the justice system, but said that officers, as human beings, “sometimes make mistakes.” He added that Timberlake “cooperated with the officers from the time he was ordered out of his car until the time he was released on June 18” by the same judge.
“But the facts remain,” Burke added, “he was not intoxicated. I repeat: Justin Timberlake was not intoxicated and we are confident that this charge – this criminal charge – will be dropped.”
Burke said Timberlake is doing well despite legal issues that coincide with an international tour. “He’s doing great,” Burke said. “He’s very busy.”
Deadline is seeking comment from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office on Burke’s claim of police misconduct.
Timberlake was arrested for drunken driving in the early morning hours of June 18 after a night out with friends at the popular summer beach destination, where weekend visitors and vacationers mingle with wealthy residents and longtime locals in Long Island’s upscale Hamptons area. The Grammy Award-winning pop singer and actor was on a weeklong break from his international tour to promote his latest album, Everything I thought it was.
Timberlake was with a group of people that night at the American Hotel restaurant and bar, a favorite haunt in a historic 19th-century building on Sag Harbor’s scenic Main Street. The former ’N Sync singer was pulled over after midnight in a gray new-model BMW SUV with Florida plates for driving erratically and running a stop sign on a residential street about a half-mile from the restaurant, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Sag Harbor Village police officer who pulled him over and subsequently arrested him.
The officer wrote that Timberlake was driving “while intoxicated” and that his eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” while he also had “a strong odor of alcoholic beverages.”
“I had a martini and followed my friends to their house,” he told the officer, according to the police report. But he “performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests” and then refused to take a breathalyzer test, saying, “No, I don’t do a chemical test,” the officer wrote. Timberlake was arrested, spent the rest of the night in a local lockup and was released the next morning.
Timberlake, who is facing his first charge of drunken driving, faces up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, as well as the loss of his New York driver’s license. He has pleaded not guilty to drunken driving and various traffic violations. His attorney, Edward Burke Jr., has vowed to contest the charges and has stressed that no one was injured by his client.
Timberlake began his entertainment career as a Disney Mouseketeer, then became a member of the teen pop group ‘N Sync, famous for their hit song “Bye Bye Bye.” A favorite of the group’s young fans, Timberlake achieved the rare feat in the early 2000s of transitioning from a multi-million-selling band to a thriving solo career that has matched or surpassed his original act.
Timberlake himself has racked up hits like “Cry Me a River” and “SexyBack” with an accessible sound that straddles funk, pop and club music, and he’s exerted enough crossover influence to score collaborations with rap and R&B icons including Jay-Z, Drake, Rihanna and Missy Elliott.
His screen career also took off, with roles in films like The social network has TrollsBut recent years have been difficult for the former boy band sensation turned solo pop phenomenon and standout artist. Saturday Night Live guest.
Timberlake has faced scrutiny for his behavior toward Britney Spears, a fellow pop star and former Disney actress, during and after the years they dated. A 2021 documentary, Malfunctionabout the fallout from Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during a 2004 Super Bowl halftime show with Timberlake, questioned why the brunt of the criticism fell on Jackson while Timberlake’s career was unscathed.
Timberlake also faces a problem familiar to any seasoned pop star: how to stay relevant as his core audience ages and younger listeners gravitate toward new artists. Timberlake’s new album, billed as a return to his roots, was met with disappointing reviews and failed to continue his long run of No. 1s. Page Six reported that the young cop who pulled Timberlake over had no idea who he was.