Justin Timberlake Wasn't Intoxicated During DWI Arrest, Lawyer Claims in Court | TMZ Live
Justin Timberlake's DWI arrest never should've happened his lawyer says ... 'cause he just claimed in court the singer wasn't even intoxicated when cops arrested him.
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00:00I think he called this a plot twist, a major plot twist for Justin Timberlake's DWI case,
00:05at least the way that his legal team is putting it out there, because we all saw the mugshot
00:11after his arrest.
00:13Everyone commented, wow, look at his very glassy eye, and figured, all right, look,
00:17he had some drinks.
00:18We don't know what his blood alcohol was, because he refused a breathalyzer, and now
00:24his attorney, Edward Burke Jr., is speaking out about that arrest, and says, the cops
00:31got it wrong.
00:32What did they get wrong?
00:33And this was in court today, by the way.
00:34Yes, in court.
00:35This is what Mr. Burke had to say.
00:38Sometimes the police, just like every one of us, make mistakes, and that is the case
00:43in this very incident.
00:44The fact remains, he was not intoxicated.
00:48I'll say it again, Justin Timberlake was not intoxicated, and we are very confident that
00:53that criminal charge will be dismissed.
00:55Okay, so let's unpack this for a second.
00:59This is what happens when lawyers on opposing sides are jockeying.
01:05Ed Burke is a very good lawyer.
01:08He is a very good defense lawyer.
01:10But here's the deal.
01:11Yes, Justin Timberlake refused a breathalyzer test.
01:15He is allowed to do that.
01:16There are consequences.
01:17He is allowed to do it.
01:19Here's his problem.
01:20You have cops who will testify that they saw Justin Timberlake blow a stop sign.
01:25They'll have body cam of this, by the way, swerving in the road, flunking several field
01:32sobriety tests, and smelling alcohol on his breath.
01:36And they're going to testify to that, right?
01:38They're going to testify to that.
01:39So how does Justin refute any of that?
01:42Here's how he refutes it.
01:44You show whatever weakness you can on the part of the prosecution, and you negotiate
01:50a deal.
01:52And the deal, ideally, for somebody like Justin Timberlake might be lowering it to reckless
02:01driving or something like that, where he pleads no contest to reckless driving.
02:06That's the win in a situation like this.
02:08The idea that the judge would dismiss the case because he refused to take a breathalyzer
02:15ain't going to happen.
02:16It seems Edward Burke, too, also stated that there was some sort of paperwork error.
02:20They were saying that somebody failed to sign one of the key documents, and that was kind
02:23of the initial basis of today's hearing was trying to get it thrown out.
02:26And he said, like you guys read in the statement, and again, he said he was adamant outside
02:29the court that there are more mistakes similar to this.
02:32So that's kind of at least part of his argument for getting this kind of thrown out.
02:36There were.
02:38And I have some recon on this.
02:39There were other mistakes.
02:41The issue is, are the mistakes going to have any impact?
02:44This case is never, folks, never going to go to trial.
02:48This case will be plea bargained the way almost every DUI is.
02:53They are not going to, Ed Burke's a great lawyer.
02:56He is not going to go to court and then have this cop testify, you know, who didn't even
03:02know Justin Timberlake, by the way, just stopped this guy because he blew the stop sign and
03:05was swerving.
03:07That's right.
03:08That's right.
03:09So I this case is going to plea bargain.
03:10I don't know how and I don't know what they're going to ask.
03:12And again, it is possible that the prosecutor is going to say, nope, we're not going to
03:16plea bargain.
03:17Take your chances at trial.
03:19I still don't think they would do that because why have another go through all that?
03:22Exactly.
03:23That's right.
03:24This is Mariah in New York City.
03:25I mean, I think it's a good question as to whether or not it'll go to trial.
03:28But I mean, I would err with caution with this information from his attorney, because
03:32let's be honest, lawyers are going to do what they're paid to do, which is to defend their
03:37clients.
03:38So, yeah, I mean, I think it's very interesting.
03:39I'm someone who takes drunk driving very seriously.
03:42My mom's life is almost taken by a drunk driver.
03:45So we'll just I don't like that Justin Timberlake has been joking about this during his trial,
03:50especially or joking about this during his tour.
03:53Yes.
03:54While all of this is happening in the backdrop.
03:56So, I mean, I just want to say I take drunk driving very seriously.
04:00And again, this is coming from his attorney who is paid to do what he's doing right now,
04:06which is to defend his client.
04:07You know, one other point why Justin Timberlake is that this is never going to go to trial.
04:12You know what one of the pieces of evidence is going to be, right?
04:15No.
04:16What?
04:17The body cam.
04:18And you're going to see him flunk the feel sobriety test.
04:19Absolutely.
04:20And he doesn't want and he doesn't.
04:21But hold on.
04:22But that may also could come out even after the case is done.
04:25Not necessarily.
04:26I mean, it could.
04:27It's really up to the judge and whether to release it or not.
04:30I mean, right now, the police are saying they're not releasing it because it's still part of
04:32the investigation.
04:34But he doesn't want this to be played in court where you see him taking the test, where you
04:40see him blowing the stop sign.
04:42It's just not going to happen.