MIAMI – A trial date of May 5 was set Tuesday for Justin Bieber in the Florida case in which he is charged with driving the influence (DUI), resisting arrest without violence, and driving with an expired license.
In a status hearing held today before presiding Judge William Altfield, prosecutors and Roy Black leading the defense team, Prosecutor Daniel Diaz-Balart revealed at the brief hearing that no plea offer has been made for the 20-year-old pop singer.
Black also said there no plea deal had been offered and none had been rejected , despite most first-time offenders in similar cases being offered a plea to avoid potential jail time.
“All we’re going to say is, we’re going to prepare for a trial and that Mr. Bieber has pleaded not guilty,” Black told reporters.
An initial March 3 trial date was postponed while attorneys for news media organizations and Bieber’s lawyers battled over the release of police jail videos showing the superstar giving a urine sample for a drug test. The videos were deemed public record and released last week after sizable redaction was added.
Bieber and R&B singer Khalil Amir Sharieff were arrested January 23 in Miami Beach after police called an illegal drag race with high-end sports cars.
Breathalyzer tests showed Bieber’s blood-alcohol content was far below the 0.02 limit for under 21 drivers. But a urine test revealed the active ingredient of marijuana and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax were in Bieber’s system at the time his arrest.
Sharieff has been given an April 7 trial date on a solitary DUI charge , to which has also pleaded not guilty.
Black also gave his opinion on the just released extracts of a deposition Bieber gave last week in a civil lawsuit filed by a photographer who claims he was attacked by Bieber’s bodygyuards on the singers orders.
Video of that deposition are now viral. Black criticized this as an invasion of Bieber’s privacy.
Black said Bieber was asked very broad questions in the deposition, such as the nature of relationships with singers Selena Gomez and Usher “that had nothing to do with the case.”
Miami-dade County Court circuit judge Sara Zabel denied motions from Bieber’s lawyers requesting the singer’s deposition be sealed.
“He has absolutely no privacy,” Black said of the singer. “There’s absolutely no protection for somebody like Justin.”
IQ also notes this as being vital context for Bieber’s behavior in the deposition and state of mind after significantly increased attention from the media.
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