Singer and actor Justin Timberlake’s lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., says he “will have a lot to say” about his client’s Tuesday DWI arrest in the days to come.
The 43-year-old former NSYNC singer was arrested around 12:35 a.m. Tuesday morning by Sag Harbor Police for allegedly driving while intoxicated in the Hamptons village.
A Sag Harbor Police Department statement released later Tuesday says that Timberlake, who was driving a BMW, failed to stop at a stop sign, leading to a traffic stop by an officer who allegedly found him to be intoxicated.
Evgen_Prozhyrko/Sag Harbor Police/Getty Images
Timberlake’s “eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of 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,” according to court documents reported by the Associated Press.
The Grammy winner reportedly told the officer he had one martini and was following some of his friends home. He was held until his 9:30 a.m. arraignment, where he was dismissed after being charged with a driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) misdemeanor.
In New York State, a first offense DWI can result in a $500 to $1,000 fine and a maximum jail sentence of one year if convicted. An individual’s driver’s license can be revoked for at least six months.
Burke Jr. told KTLA 5 in a statement that he looks “forward to vigorously defending Mr. Timberlake on these allegations.” Burke Jr. is the founding attorney at his Sag Harbor firm specializing in criminal, negligence, and real estate law. Before entering private practice, he was a prosecutor with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
He added, “I will have a lot to say at the appropriate time but am currently awaiting full discovery from the District Attorney’s office.”
Discovery is the legal process of exchanging information between the prosecution and defense before the trial. For a DWI, this could include police reports, camera footage, witness statements, test records, and statements.
The next court date for the case, set by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, is July 26. Currently on his Forget Tomorrow World Tour, Timberlake is scheduled to perform in Krakow, Poland, on that date.
On Friday, he is expected to perform in Chicago, returning to New York days later to perform at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden on June 25 and June 26. He has not made a statement about whether his tour will be impacted.
Newsweek reached out to Burke, the Sag Harbor Police, and Suffolk District Attorney’s office for comment via email on Wednesday evening.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.