Justin Timberlake's DWI Hearing Did Not Go Smoothly

Judge threatened his lawyer with a gag order
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 2, 2024 12:43 PM CDT
Justin Timberlake's DWI Hearing Did Not Go Smoothly
This photo provided by the Sag Harbor New York Police Department, June 18, 2024, shows Justin Timberlake.   (Sag Harbor Police Department via AP, File)

Justin Timberlake, who is on tour in Europe, appeared via videolink from Antwerp, Belgium, for a hearing in his DWI case on Friday—and the brief hearing did not go entirely smoothly. The judge in Sag Harbor, New York, repeatedly admonished the singer's attorney, Edward Burke Jr., NBC News reports. Justice Carl Irace told Burke that "irresponsible" comments he made at a previous hearing came off "as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins." Irace threatened to impose a gag order or to require Timberlake to attend the next hearing in person, which would force him to interrupt his tour, reports People.

Last week, Burke said the "most important fact to know about this case is that Justin was not intoxicated and should not have been arrested for DWI," per Rolling Stone. He added that "police made a number of very significant errors in this case." Timberlake was arrested in June after he was pulled over in Long Island and failed field sobriety tests. At Friday's hearing, he pleaded not guilty to DWI. His Tennessee driver's license was suspended in New York, which Rolling Stone notes is customary in the aftermath of DWI arrests. He will not be required to attend the next hearing in the case, on Aug. 9. Another hearing is set for Sept. 13, a few days after the last date on the European leg of his tour. (More Justin Timberlake stories.)

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