Justin Timberlake reeked of alcohol and was ‘unable to follow police instructions correctly’ when he was pulled over under suspicion of drunk driving in the Hamptons in June, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The singer was arrested and charged with DWI on June 18 after he was spotted running a stop sign while behind the wheel of his BMW X7 in Sag Harbor.
Timberlake, 43, refused to take a breathalyzer test, and his attorney last month claimed he was not intoxicated at the time of his arrest.
But police documents obtained by DailyMail.com lay bare new details of the now infamous traffic stop which saw the pop star fail a series of sobriety tests, refuse a chemical test, and ultimately arrested in the affluent summer resort town.
According to the report, the former NSYNC star was pulled over shortly after midnight by 24-year-old rookie police officer Michael Arkinson, who allegedly witnessed him blow a stop sign and swerve in the right lane.
The police paperwork shows Timberlake verbally refused a test three times and even refused to initial the document confirming that decision.
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
Police documents obtained by DailyMail.com lay bare new details of the now infamous traffic stop which saw the pop star fail a series of sobriety tests
Arkinson’s handwritten notes appear to show that the officer followed procedure in the field, determining that Timberlake displayed numerous signs of intoxication such as swaying on his feet, turning the wrong way, and being unable to keep his balance.
The report states Timberlake was alone in the car and was observed to have ‘[b]loodshot and glassy eyes, odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from breath, inability to divide attention, unsteady afoot…’
The officer quoted the singer saying: ‘I had one martini and I followed my friends home.’
He also noted that Timberlake was ‘unable to focus on speaking while looking for vehicle registration.’
The walk and turn test requires the defendant to take nine steps in a straight line, each time placing his heel directly in front of his toe, then to turn and repeat the process.
According to Arkinson, Timberlake was ‘very unbalanced,’ and was ‘unable to follow instructions correctly.’
Next, Timberlake was asked to raise one foot slightly off the ground and keep it raised for 30 seconds without moving.
Arkinson reported that Timberlake swayed while doing taking this test, needed to use his arms to keep his balance, and put the foot down before the required 30 seconds had lapsed.
The fourth test in the field was the prescreen breathalyzer that Timberlake refused to take.
While the results of this breath test are not admissible in court as evidence due to the unreliability of the test, it does add to probable cause leading to an arrest. Timberlake refused, Arkinson wrote.
Arkinson’s handwritten notes appear to show that the officer followed procedure on the field, determining that Timberlake displayed numerous signs of intoxication
The report shows Timberlake was wearing sneakers at the time and failed to complete a walk-and-turn test successfully
Officer Arkinson reported that Timberlake swayed during the one-leg stand test and needed to use his arms to keep his balance
The officer placed Timberlake under arrest, handcuffed him, and put them in the backseat of the squad car before driving back to the police station.
There, Arkinson took inventory of Timberlake’s property, which included a Rolex watch, a black vape pen, a gold ring, a wallet which contained three $100 bills, one $5 bill, and one single.
He also asked Timberlake to take a breath test at the police station, the results of which are admissible as evidence.
But according to the officer’s report, Timberlake refused again, and wrote on the report: ‘No, I’m not doing a chemical test.’
By 1:26am he was read his Miranda rights, and told Arkinson that he understood them and that he did not want to speak without an attorney.
The new details of the report come after Timberlake was re-arraigned on the DWI charge in a virtual court appearance last Friday.
During the hearing Judge Carl Irace suspended his driving privileges in New York, citing his refusal to take a breath test during his arrest.
Appearing via video link from Antwerp, Belgium – where he performed on Saturday – Timberlake again pleaded not guilty to one charge of driving while intoxicated.
At the police station the officer took inventory of Timberlake’s property, which included a Rolex watch, a black vape pen, a gold ring, a wallet which contained $306 in cash
![The report states Timberlake was alone in the car and was observed to have '[b]loodshot and glassy eyes, odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from breath'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/08/05/22/88185329-13703973-image-a-52_1722892020548.jpg)
The report states Timberlake was alone in the car and was observed to have ‘[b]loodshot and glassy eyes, odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from breath’
Dressed in a black collared shirt, the singer, 43, looked stony-faced on screen, only speaking twice to respond to the judge.
The judge not specify how long the suspension would last.
The hearing came after attorney Edward Burke Jr. had sought to dismiss the case last week, citing errors in the original charging documents in Timberlake’s arrest.
But the judge instead ordered the singer-actor to be re-arraigned today under the new, revised paperwork filed by prosecutors.
Burke withdrew his original motion to have the case dismissed during the hearing on Friday.
Sag Harbor Judge Carl 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.
Justin Timberlake made a virtual appearance in a Sag Harbor courtroom on Friday where he was re-arraigned on a drunk driving charge stemming from 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
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 43-year-old was permitted to appear virtually as his Forget Tomorrow World Tour kicks off in Europe. He performed in Berlin on Wednesday, and has another sold out concert scheduled on Saturday in Antwerp.
Timberlake is scheduled to be back in the US for a show in Newark, New Jersey on September 13.
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.
The night of his arrest, the so-called ‘Prince of Pop’ had told the arresting officer he had one martini at The American Hotel
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
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.