The prosector handling Justin Timberlake's driving while intoxicated (DWI) case has insisted the pop star isn't getting any special treatment.
Justin Timberlake has been dealing with the fall out of his arrest
The 43-year-old pop star was arrested in Sag Harbor, New York, in June for allegedly driving while under the influence but his lawyer has reportedly reached an agreement with officials to drop the initial DWI charge to a minor traffic offence - and now Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has insisted the case is being handled like any other.
He told New York Post column PageSix: "He’s charged with driving while intoxicated … [Then] there’s a lesser charge as driving while impaired, which happens in a number of cases. So we’re going to continue to negotiate the case.
"So we’ll see. We’ll see how it plays out in court, whether or not we could come to an agreement … There are certain things that the prosecution wants [and] certain things that the defence wants, and there’s certain things that the court wants. So you factor all of those things in. You go to court and see if you could work them out."
He went on to insist Timberlake hasn't been given any special treatment because of his high profile, adding: "The one thing that we want to make sure we’re doing is … being consistent, and we don’t want to treat any defendant better than others because of, you know, because of any perceived notoriety they may have.
"But we certainly don’t want to treat people worse for the same reason. So we’re taking pains to make sure that we’re treating this case like any other case of its kind."
The case is due back in court on Friday (13.09.24) when a potential plea agreement will be heard and potentially signed off by a judge.
If Timberlake accepts a plea to a charge of Driving While Ability Impaired - which is not classed as drunk driving - he will be required to pay a $300 to $500 fine for the offence. The exact amount will be set by a judge during the hearing.
However, the NSYNC star will still have his driver's license suspended in New York, a standard year-long punishment after he refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test when he was pulled over by police.
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