Justin Timberlake pleaded not guilty Friday to driving while intoxicated in New York, according to multiple media reports.
During the hearing, the judge announced that Timberlake’s driver’s license would be suspended. However, since Timberlake has an out-of-state license, this suspension only prohibits him from driving in the state of New York. The ruling occurred because Timberlake refused to take a breathalyzer test at the time of his arrest.
Timberlake virtually attended the Friday hearing, which took place in Sag Harbor, N.Y. Currently, the singer is in Antwerp, Belgium. The hearing was the singer’s second arraignment for DUI, which occurred because his attorney, Edward Burke Jr., caught that a superior officer did not sign the charging papers from Timberlake’s arrest.
The “SexyBack” singer spoke twice during the session to answer “yes” to Justice Carl Irace. At one point, the judge reprimanded Timberlake’s lawyer for the “irresponsible” comments he made to the media last week following his client’s court appearance. The judge also threatened to issue a gag order if Burke’s comments continued.
The next conference for Timberlake’s case will take place on Aug. 9. The singer does not have to appear at that time, but the judge warned there may come a day where Timberlake will have to physically appear in court person. If its required, that in-person hearing will take place on Sept. 13. The judge told Burke to make sure his client is available at that time.
The singer was arrested in June after failing to stop at a stop sign. An officer from Sag Harbor Police stated that Timberlake had “slowed speech” and that he “performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests.”
Shortly after his arrest, Burke issued a statement, saying, “I look forward to vigorously defending Mr. Timberlake on these allegations. I will have a lot to say at the appropriate time but am currently awaiting full discovery from the District Attorney’s office.”
ABC 7 NY was the first to report this story.