Justin Timberlake has had his driver’s license suspended in New York nearly two months after being arrested on DUI charges.
The pop star, who is currently on tour in Europe, made a virtual appearance in a Sag Harbor courtroom on Friday, where he was arraigned again on a drunken driving charge stemming from the June 18 incident.
Appearing via video link from Antwerp, Belgium, where he was dressed in a black collared shirt, the 43-year-old singer pleaded not guilty to a charge of drink-driving.
The hearing comes after Timberlake’s attorney, Edward Burke Jr., sought to have the case dismissed last week, citing errors in charging documents during his arrest.
Instead, the judge ordered the pop star to be re-arraigned today based on the newly revised paperwork.
During Friday’s hearing, Sag Harbor Judge Carl Irace also admonished Burke for his comments at the previous hearing, calling them “irresponsible.”
The lawyer had spoken to reporters outside court, where he insisted Timberlake was not drunk on the night of his arrest.
Judge Irace said Burke’s comments “seem like an attempt to poison the case before it even begins.”
He then officially suspended Timberlake’s driver’s license in New York, but did not specify for how long.
Justin Timberlake was arraigned again on a DUI charge on Friday after his attorney cited errors in the original charging documents for his arrest. The singer was seen being led away in handcuffs following his arrest on June 18.
Timberlake had been ordered to stand trial again during a court hearing last week during which his attorney sought to dismiss the case citing defects in charging documents filed after his arrest.
The 43-year-old was allowed to appear virtually as his world tour kicks off in Europe.
The singer was charged with drunk driving after he was pulled over in Sag Harbor for allegedly running a stop sign and veering out of the lane while driving his 2025 BMW X7 that night.
Burke had filed a motion last week to dismiss the charges, arguing that Timberlake was not intoxicated at the time and citing errors in the charging document signed by police.
The attorney argued that the paperwork completed by the arresting officer had been signed by a part-time police officer rather than a supervising officer, specifically the Sag Harbor police sergeant who had been present at the time.
The prosecution, led by Deputy District Attorney Ashley Cangro, refuted that argument, saying prosecutors had, in fact, filed a duly signed superseding indictment on July 2.
That document, he said, corrected the mistake made the morning of the arrest.
Instead, Cangro argued that Timberlake should be retried as soon as possible based on the amended document, to which Judge Irace agreed, setting the hearing for August 2.
The singer’s BMW was seen driving through Sag Harbor in the early hours of Tuesday, June 18, on nearby surveillance camera footage.
The 43-year-old star was photographed looking exhausted after her original appearance in June in Sag Harbor.
On the night of his arrest, the so-called ‘Prince of Pop’ had told the arresting officer that he had had a martini at The American Hotel.
However, Timberlake is unlikely to make any appearances until there is a final disposition between his lawyer and the district attorney, if the case goes that far.
After last week’s hearing, Burke spoke briefly to reporters outside the courtroom, alleging that police acted improperly during and after the arrest and insisting that his client was not intoxicated on the night of his arrest.
“The police made a number of significant mistakes,” he said. “Sometimes the police, like every one of us, make mistakes.”
The night of his arrest, the so-called “Prince of Pop” had told the arresting officer that he had had a martini at the Hotel Americano and was following friends home, according to the documents.
The 10-time Grammy winner was released without bail later that morning after being arraigned in Sag Harbor. He was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving.
It is no coincidence or surprise that Timberlake hired Burke to represent him in the case.
He is known as the go-to lawyer when celebrities and the rich and powerful are arrested in the Hamptons.
Timberlake’s attorney, Edward Burke Jr., appeared in Sag Harbor court on behalf of the pop star on July 26 to ask Judge Carl Irace to dismiss the case stemming from the June 18 incident.
Timberlake is currently in Europe on his Forget Tomorrow world tour, which heads to Belgium for two nights on Saturday. He is pictured performing in Hershey Park, Pennsylvania, on July 4.
Burke’s superpower is his legal negotiation skills and his ability to make the system work on behalf of his clients.
When Jason Kidd, then an NBA All-Star and now the league’s head coach, was arrested on misdemeanor drunken driving after crashing into a telephone pole in Southampton in 2012, it was Burke who stood by his side.
The charges against Kidd were eventually reduced to simple rape.
Burke also supported Jason Lee, a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, when he was accused of rape by East Hampton police in 2013.
Lee was eventually found not guilty after a trial in 2015.
In 2021, when Dan Gatsby, the husband and caregiver of restaurateur B Smith who had died the previous year, crashed the Mercedes-Benz he was driving into another vehicle in Sag Harbor, severely injuring both, and then refused to take a breathalyzer test at police headquarters after being charged with drunk driving, it was Burke who got the call.
Gatsby was ultimately allowed to plead guilty, as in the Jason Kidd case, to a simple infraction, leaving him with no criminal record — an unusual move in a case where there was both a hit-and-run and a refusal.