Justin Timberlake 'not intoxicated' when arrested for drink driving, says lawyer

A police photograph of Justin Timberlake after he was arrested. Credit: Sag Harbor Police Department

Justin Timberlake’s lawyer has said the pop star was "not intoxicated" when he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.

The American singer was stopped in the village of Sag Harbor in New York’s Hamptons on 18 June.

Timberlake’s lawyer, Edward Burke, has appeared in court seeking to get the charge against the 43-year-old dismissed.

Burke told reporters outside court that "Justin Timberlake was not intoxicated", adding there were errors in the documents submitted by the police.

“The police made a number of very significant errors in this case,” he said.

“In court today, you heard the district attorney try to fix one of those errors. But that’s just one and there are many others.

"Sometimes the police make mistakes and this is just one of those instances.”

However, a local judge has ordered Timberlake to be re-arraigned on 2 August with the corrected paperwork.

The judge also agreed the former NSYNC member, who is currently on tour in Europe, could appear virtually for the proceeding.

Officials prosecuting the case described the paperwork issue as a “ministerial error” and that an amended charging document was filed on 2 July.

Justin Timberlake's lawyer has said he was 'not intoxicated' when he was arrested. Credit: AP

“The facts and circumstance of the case have not been changed or amended,” spokesperson Emily O'Neil said in an email.

Timberlake was charged after police said he ran a stop sign and veered out of his lane in Sag Harbor.

The singer and actor was driving a 2025 BMW at around 12:30am when an officer stopped him and determined he was intoxicated, according to a court document.

“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 court papers said.

Timberlake, 43, told the officer at the time that he had one martini and was following some friends home, according to the documents.

After being arrested and taken to a police station in nearby East Hampton, he refused a breath test.

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