Remaining police video clips of Justin Bieber after his January arrest will be made public with sensitive portions blacked out to protect the singer's privacy, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge William Altfield said two of the five unreleased video clips depict the singer's genitalia during a urine test for drugs at the Miami Beach Police Department.
Altfield agreed with lawyers for Bieber, who turned 20 on Saturday, that the video's airing would be an invasion of privacy that outweighed the public's right to know.
'Mr. Bieber's right to privacy is
paramount,' the judge said. 'He has not lost his right to privacy, and
that is what is important here.'
Attorneys
for The Associated Press and other news outlets had previously
suggested any sensitive portions be blacked out and the rest released
under Florida's liberal open records laws. Much of the footage was released last week, some of it showing Bieber walking unsteadily during a sobriety test.
To be made public: Miami judge ordered that a police video release a censored version of Justin Bieber peeing in his jail cell
Right to privacy: The Miami judge did rule to blackout the star's genitals for the public version of the video
Bieber has pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license.
Official record: The pop star was made to show his tattoos to police following his arrest in January
Neither has been charged with drag racing.
Bieber attorney Roy Black said he was satisfied with the ruling, as did media attorneys.
AP attorney Deanna Shullman said the news organization would never show Bieber's private parts and Scott Ponce, representing The Miami Herald and CBS television stations, said the ruling was more about protecting the singer from random releases on the Internet.
'It's more about what someone in the private sector might do,' Ponce said.
Black said the three clips to be released without redaction are shot from an angle that is too far away to discern what is going on.
Prosecutors said they will release all five remaining clips in a few days, after the court-ordered redactions are completed.
Additionally, a video obtained by TMZ shows the Baby singer led by a guard while in jail to undergo his urine drug test.
Separately, the Miami Beach Police Department made public a new batch of 18 still photos taken shortly after Bieber's arrest, mainly close-ups of his many tattoos - a praying Jesus, a grinning joker's face accompanied by the word 'love,' an Indian chief's head, a Psalms quotation, and more - and one full-length picture of the singer.
Evidence released previously showed that a breath test found Bieber's blood-alcohol level below the .02 threshold considered intoxicated for underage drivers.
The urine test found the presence of the active ingredient in marijuana and the antianxiety drug Xanax. Bieber told officers he had been smoking marijuana before his arrest, according to police reports.
A trial date has not been set. Altfield set another status conference for next week in the case.
Awaiting trial: Bieber has plead not guilty to charges stemming from his January 23 arrest
Booked: Bieber pictured in his mug shot
No comments:
Post a Comment