Justin Timberlake pleads not guilty in DUI hearing

Justin Timberlake pleaded not guilty today in a virtual hearing for his revised drunk driving misdemeanor charge from June. Timberlake was initially arrested in the village of Sag Harbor on Long Island, New York, after attempting to drive to a friend’s house following a dinner in town. According to the arresting officer’s writeup (via Deadline), the former *NSYNC member ran a stop sign and swerved along a residential street. The singer was “in an intoxicated condition” with “bloodshot and glassy” eyes and “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” coming from him, the officer wrote. 

During today’s hearing, Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace also officially suspended Timberlake’s permission to drive in New York. The singer’s attorney, Edward D. Burke Jr., had attempted last week to get the case dismissed, citing the fact that the arresting officer’s supervisor hadn’t signed off on the criminal complaint. That “ministerial error” has apparently now been fixed and the complaint revised. Burke withdrew his motion today.

“We stand ready to litigate the underlying facts of this case in court, rather than in the press,” a DA spokesperson said in a statement last week, responding to an outside-of-court comment from Burke claiming that Timberlake “was not intoxicated” at the time of his arrest. In the original police report, Timberlake apparently claimed, “I had one martini and I followed my friends home,” upon his arrest, but the officer notes that he “performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests” and refused a breathalyzer.

Despite Timberlake’s now somewhat infamous comment that his arrest was going to “ruin the tour,” his current “Forget Tomorrow” performances (supporting his recent album, Everything I Thought It Was) seem to be going just fine. Despite a string of controversies that emerged in the wake of the release of Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman In Me, Timberlake’s tour has received generally positive reviews from critics, with outlets calling his “volcanic talent… unquestionable” and deeming him “the reigning Prince of Pop.” At a stop in Chicago shortly after his arrest, Timberlake seemed to address the situation. “It’s been a tough week, but you’re here, and I’m here and nothing can change this moment,” he said.