Justin Timberlake is expected to change the plea to his DWI charge to guilty, resolving a case that began when the musician was arrested after being pulled over in the Hamptons this summer.
Per ABC News, Timberlake will enter the new plea at a court hearing in Sag Harbor Village, New York this Friday, Sept. 13. The misdemeanor charge carries a fine penalty, which Timberlake will pay alongside his guilty plea, bringing the matter to a close.
Timberlake’s lawyer, Ed Burke, declined Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
Timberlake was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated back in June. According to a previous court filing, police officers clocked Timberlake allegedly blowing through a stop sign and then failing to “keep to the right side of the road” for multiple blocks.
Upon being pulled over, prosecutors said, Timberlake’s “eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of 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.”
Timberlake allegedly told the cops, “I had one martini and I followed my friends home.” (Not to mention the heavily-meme’d “this is gonna ruin the tour,” “what tour,” “the world tour” exchange the pop star allegedly had with a much younger officer who didn’t recognize him.)
Following his arrest, Timberlake had his mugshot taken and was released the following morning. He originally pleaded not guilty to the charges during a court hearing in August, which he attended virtually. Burke also tried to cast doubt on the DWI, arguing Timberlake was “not intoxicated and should not have been arrested,” while also suggesting the police had made “a number of very significant errors in this case.”
The judge overseeing the case subsequently admonished Burke at the August hearing, warning him about making “irresponsible” remarks, as it “comes off as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins.”
Timberlake hasn’t spoken much about the arrest, though at his first concert following the incident he told the crowd, “We’ve been together through ups and downs, lefts and rights. It’s been a tough week, but you’re here, and I’m here… I know I’m hard to love sometimes but you keep loving me right back.”
