New Video Shows Bieber Processed After Miami Beach Arrest
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — New surveillance video obtained by CBS4 shows Justin Bieber being processed by an officer after he was arrested in Miami Beach last month.
The video shows Bieber removing his shoes, socks and hoodie and being searched by police. It appears that he complies with all their requests. The video lasts about 10 minutes.
We showed the video to criminal defense attorney and former public defender Julia Kefalinos, who is not connected to the Bieber case but agree to speak with CBS4 News and provide her opinion on whether Bieber received any special treatment. She believes he did.
"The thing about the video that struck me the most was that at one point one of the police officers was walking towards a room and he had his back turned to Mr. Bieber," Kefalinos told CBS 4's Carey Codd.
Kefalinos said that even though Bieber was not arrested for a violent crime she believes it's unusual for officers to turn their back on someone who has just been arrested for safety reasons.
Police cameras captured the video in the moments after Bieber arrived at the police department following his arrest. Police say Bieber was drag racing on Pine Tree Drive with R & B singer Khalil Amir Sharieff. Bieber was arrested for DUI, driving with a suspended license and resisting arrest. Sharieff was arrested for DUI.
A police report says that once at the police station officers noticed Bieber had a flushed face, bloodshot eyes and had alcohol on his breath. Police conducted a field sobriety test on Bieber and detectives say he did not perform up to standards. Investigators say the 19-year-old Bieber told police he had some alcohol, smoked pot and had taken some prescription drugs prior to his encounter with police. Breath tests showed Bieber's blood alcohol content below the .02 threshold for underage drivers. But police say a toxicology test detected the presence of marijuana and Xanax in his system.
But Kefalinos says if she were representing Bieber she might use this video as part of his defense.
"To me, he didn't look impaired or meeting the standards of an impaired person in this video," she said. "He looked completely sober."
There is no audio on this police video so we don't know what the officers are saying to Bieber or how they're reacting to the celebrity who popped up in their police station. We do know that a female Miami Beach Police officer is under investigation for attempting to take a photograph of Bieber while he was inside the police department.
Bieber has pleaded not guilty and his next court date in Miami will be on Feburary 19. But news from TMZ indicates that Bieber might have legal troubles in Los Angeles as well. TMZ is reporting that the LA County Sheriff is strongly recommending to prosecutors that Bieber face felony vandalism charges in an alleged egging of his neighbor's home.