Justin Bieber wins right to have jail video footage edited
A Florida judge has ordered prosecutors in Justin Bieber's DUI case to edit out images of the pop star's private parts from video footage filmed during his time behind bars.
The Baby hitmaker spent several hours in jail on 23 January (14) after he was busted for DUI, resisting arrest without violence and driving with an expired license following allegations he had been caught drag racing in Miami.
He was booked in a Miami Beach jail, where he was caught on camera
struggling to complete a sobriety test, arguing with cops and being
patted down by an officer.
Some of that video footage was recently released by authorities,
but Bieber's lawyers appealed to a judge to prevent further images,
in which the singer's genitals are exposed as he submits to a urine
test, from being made public.
Miami-Dade County Judge William Altfield has since reviewed the
surveillance tapes, and on Tuesday (04Mar14), he ruled two of five
video clips had to be edited out of respect to the embattled 20
year old.
Judge Altfield told the court, "Mr. Bieber's right to privacy is
paramount. He has not lost his right to privacy, and that is what
is important here."
Bieber's lawyer, Roy Black, insists he's happy with the decision as
the three other clips were taken at an angle and distance far
enough away to protect his client's privacy. The star, who turned
20 on Saturday (01Mar14), has pleaded not guilty to the charges
against him.
The judge's decision to review the CCTV stalled a proposed 3 March
(14) start for Bieber's trial. The case will return to court for a
status conference next week (begs10Mar14).