Edward Burke Jr., the attorney for singer and actor Justin Timberlake, said he “will have a lot to say” about his client’s DWI arrest Tuesday in the coming days.
The 43-year-old former NSYNC singer was arrested around 12:35 a.m. Tuesday morning by Sag Harbor police for allegedly driving drunk in the Hamptons.
A Sag Harbor Police Department statement issued later Tuesday said Timberlake, who was driving a BMW, failed to stop at a stop sign, resulting in a traffic stop by an officer who allegedly found him intoxicated.
Evgen_Prozhyrko/Sag Harbor Police/Getty Images
“Timberlake’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his breath smelled of strong alcoholic beverages, he was unable to divide attention, his speech was slow, he was unsteady, and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests,” he said. Court documents reported by the Associated Press.
The Grammy winner reportedly told the officer that he had a martini and was following some of his friends home. He was detained until 9:30 a.m., where he was dismissed after being charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated (DWI).
In New York State, a first offense DWI can result in a fine of $500 to $1,000 and a maximum penalty of one year in prison 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 of his Sag Harbor firm specializing in criminal, negligence and real estate law. Before entering private practice, he worked as a prosecutor in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
“I will have more to say in due course but I am currently awaiting full discovery from the District Attorney’s Office,” he added.
Discovery is the legal process of exchanging information between the prosecution and defense before trial. For DWI, this can include police reports, camera footage, witness statements, probation records, and depositions.
The next court date for the case, set by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, is July 26. Timberlake, who is currently on the Forget Tomorrow world tour, is scheduled to perform in Krakow, Poland, on that date.
He is expected to perform on Friday in Chicago, and will return to New York a few days later to perform at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on June 25 and 26. He did not make a statement about whether his tour would be affected.
Newsweek I reached out to Burke, Sag Harbor Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for comment via email Wednesday evening.
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