Justin Timberlake reportedly reaches plea deal in drink-driving case
Justin Timberlake has reportedly agreed a plea deal in his driving while intoxicated (DWI) case, and will instead plead guilty to a traffic violation.
The singer’s lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., and prosecutors got the judge in the case to sign off on the deal, according to TMZ, so the DWI charge is now dropped. Instead, Timberlake will plead guilty to driving while ability impaired (DWAI), usually a less serious charge than DWI – a violation, rather than a misdemeanour or felony.
TMZ also reported that Timberlake will pay a fine between $300 and $500. However, the judge will set the exact amount during a hearing on Friday (September 13), when the plea deal officially goes before the court.
The former *NSYNC star was arrested on June 18 after allegedly driving through a stop sign and swerving out of his lane. He was charged with the misdemeanour offence of SWI at the time. He allegedly told the officer that he’d had one martini, and was following friends home in his car. It’s believed that he refused a breath test and spent the night at the local police station.
Reportedly, the police officer who arrested Timberlake didn’t recognise the singer due to his young age.
In a criminal complaint against him, the police said, “His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot, and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests,” the police said in a criminal complaint against Timberlake.
In July, Timberlake pleaded not guilty to the DWI charge, while his driving licence was suspended following a court hearing the following month due to his refusal to take a breath test. At the time, the judge didn’t say how long the suspension would last.
Back in March, he released his sixth album ‘Everything I Thought It Was’. In a three-star review, NME wrote: “Timberlake is a less beloved pop superstar than he probably should be 25 years after he sang ‘It’s gonna be may’ on an era-defining NSYNC banger.
“‘Everything I Thought It Was’ shows he hasn’t lost his vocal chops or ability to work a groove, but it doesn’t do enough to make you block out past misdemeanours. For now, Timberlake’s problematic fave era will have to wait.”
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Adam England
NME
