Justin Timberlake pleaded not guilty to charges of drinking while intoxicated stemming from his arrest in Sag Harbor, NY in June.
Appearing at a virtual hearing today (August 2), Timberlake - currently on tour in Antwerp, Belgium - issued his not-guilty plea, but had his Tennessee driver’s license in the state of New York suspended by Sag Harbor Justice Carl Irace for an undetermined period.
NBC News reports that the judge admitted he had considered a motion to dismiss the case against Timberlake, however, he chose to suspend his license in New York State because he had refused police requests to take a breathalyzer test on June 18 after being pulled over.
During the hearing, the judge also reprimanded Timberlake's attorney, Edward Burke Jr., following the comments he made publicly last week in regard to the DWI charges against his client.
Last Friday (July 26), Burke called out the Sag Harbor Police Department, accusing them of committing errors in their investigation.
“The most important fact to know about this case is that Justin was not intoxicated and should not have been arrested for DWI,” he said. “The police made a number of very significant errors in this case… Sometimes the police make mistakes and this is just one of those instances.”
Judge Irace warned Burke about making the comments, calling them “irresponsible” and that it “comes off as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins.” The judge also threatened to issue a gag order if he continued to make such comments public.
The hearing came to an end with the Judge asking Burke to "raise the bar, not lower it."