The hotel in Sag Harbor, New York, where Justin Timberlake had been drinking before getting behind the wheel of his car will be forced to turn over information from the night of his DUI arrest.
In a court hearing on Friday, Suffolk County prosecutors confirmed they issued a subpoena to The American Hotel, where the singer claimed to have consumed only ‘one martini’ when he was pulled over in the early hours of June 18.
Information gathered through the court order would be invaluable to the prosecution since Timberlake had refused to take a breath test during his arrest which would have determined how much alcohol was actually in his system.
His attorney Edward Burke Jr has previously stated publicly that the pop star was not intoxicated at the time of his arrest.
Justin Timberlake appeared in court via video link last week when he was re-arraigned on a drunk driving charge stemming from his June 18 arrest
The night of his arrest, the so-called ‘Prince of Pop’ had told the arresting officer he had one martini at The American Hotel, which has since been issued a subpoena
Timberlake, who is currently on tour, was spotted in Manchester, England ahead of his concert Thursday night
Sag Harbor Justice Carl Irace ordered assistant district attorney Ashley Cangro to clarify the status of that subpoena at the next hearing in the case, scheduled for September 13.
Timberlake, who is currently on tour, was not present at Friday’s hearing, which took place a week after his virtual court appearance during which his driving privileges were suspended under state regulations for a year.
Judge Irace said the decision was based on Timberlake’s refusal to take a breath test at police headquarters after his arrest.
It also means the suspension will be subjected to a refusal hearing required under state regulations to determine whether the driver’s license should be revoked.
It’s possible however, that Timberlake’s suspension could lapse in 15 days if the Department of Motor Vehicles has not conducted a hearing on the case by his next court date.
Currently, the New York State DMV has a backlog of refusal cases going back months.
If his suspension lapses, Timberlake would be able to drive without fear of being arrested again up until the date that the actual hearing at the DMV is held.
Attorney Burke confirmed Friday that he is not received a date from the DMV for the hearing as of yet.
Timberlake is currently in England, where he performed in Manchester Thursday night and is scheduled to return to the stage in London on Sunday and Monday.
Justin Timberlake was re-arraigned on DUI charges on Friday after his lawyer cited errors in the original charging documents from his arrest. The singer was seen being led out in handcuffs following his June 18 arrest
Dressed in a black collared shirt, the singer, 43, looked stony-faced on screen, and spoke briefly to enter his not guilty plea and to respond to Judge Carl Irace
During his re-arraignment hearing last Friday, the former NSYNC star appeared via video link from Antwerp, Belgium, pleading not guilty to one charge of driving while intoxicated.
Dressed in a black collared shirt, the singer, 43, looked stony-faced on screen, only speaking twice to respond to Judge Carl Irace.
Timberlake’s re-arraignment came after Burke had sought to dismiss the case last week, citing errors in the original charging documents in Timberlake’s arrest.
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But the judge instead ordered the singer-actor to be re-arraigned on August 2 under the new, revised paperwork filed by prosecutors.
Burke withdrew his original motion to have the case dismissed during the hearing on Friday.
Judge Irace also admonished the attorney over his comments at the previous court hearing, calling them ‘irresponsible’.
The lawyer had spoken to media outside the courthouse after the July 26 hearing, insisting Timberlake hadn’t been intoxicated on the night of his arrest.
Judge Irace said Burke’s statements ‘come off as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins’, and threatened the attorney with a gag order if he continues to make such comments.
He also warned Timberlake may be ordered to appear in court in person for future hearings in the case.
Another hearing is scheduled for next Friday August 9, which the singer will not be required to attend.
Timberlake is scheduled to be back in the US for a show in Newark, New Jersey on September 13.
The 43-year-old was permitted to appear virtually as his Forget Tomorrow World Tour kicked off in Europe
The singer’s BMW was seen cruising through Sag Harbor in the early hours of Tuesday June 18 in footage from nearby surveillance cameras
The former boyband star was arrested in the early hours of June 18 after being pulled over in Sag Harbor at the eastern end of Long Island for allegedly running a stop sign and veering out of the lane while driving his 2025 BMW X7.
Burke had filed a motion last week to dismiss the charges, claiming Timberlake was not intoxicated at the time and citing errors on the accusatory document signed by police.
The lawyer argued that the paperwork filled out by the arresting officer had been signed off by a part-time cop rather than a supervising officer, specifically the Sag Harbor Police sergeant who had been present at the time.
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The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Ashley Cangro, countered that argument, saying prosecutors had, in fact, filed a superseding, properly signed accusatory document on July 2.
That document, she said, corrected the error made the morning of the arrest.
Cangro instead argued that Timberlake should be re-arraigned as soon as possible based on the amended document, to which Judge Irace agreed.
However, it is unlikely Timberlake will make any appearances until there’s a final disposition worked out between his attorney and the DA, if the case gets that far.
After the original hearing, Burke spoke briefly to the press outside the courtroom, claiming police acted improperly during and after the arrest and insisting his client was not intoxicated on the night of his arrest.
‘The police made a number of significant errors,’ he said ‘Sometimes the police, just like every one of us, make mistakes.’
Timberlake’s attorney Edward Burke Jr. had appeared in court in Sag Harbor on the pop star’s behalf on July 26 to ask Judge Carl Irace to toss the case stemming from the June 18 incident
Timberlake is currently in Europe for his Forget Tomorrow World Tour, which will head to Belgium for two nights on Saturday. He is pictured performing in Hershey Park, Pennsylvania on July 4
The night of his arrest, the so-called ‘Prince of Pop’ had told the arresting officer he had one martini at The American Hotel and was following some friends home, according to the documents.
The 10-time Grammy winner was released without bond later in the morning after being arraigned in Sag Harbor. He was charged with a driving-while-intoxicated misdemeanor.
It is no coincidence nor surprise that Timberlake hired Burke to represent him in the case.
He is known as the ‘go-to’ attorney when celebrities and the rich and powerful get busted in the Hamptons.
Burke’s superpower is his legal negotiation skill and his ability to make the system work on behalf of his clients.
When Jason Kidd, then an NBA All-Star, and now a head coach in the league, was busted on a misdemeanor drunken driving charge after crashing into a phone pole in Southampton in 2012, it was Burke who stood by a side.
The charges against Kidd were eventually reduced to a simple violation.
Burke also stood by Jason Lee, a top Goldman Sachs executive, when he was charged with rape by the East Hampton Town Police in 2013.
Lee was eventually found not guilty after a trial in 2015.
In 2021, when Dan Gatsby, the husband and caretaker of restaurateur B Smith, who had died the year before, crashed the Mercedes-Benz he was driving into another vehicle in Sag Harbor, badly damaging both, and then refused to take a breath test at police headquarters after being charged with drunken driving, it was Burke who got the call.
Gatsby eventually was allowed to plead, as with Jason Kidd, to a simple violation, leaving him with no criminal record, an unusual move in a case where there was both a crash and a refusal.