By David Ovalle, The Miami Herald
MIAMI — The public can see the last of the videos of Justin Bieber at the Miami Beach police station — but not without some creative editing.
Two video clips, which show Bieber urinating while in a holding cell following his arrest for DUI, will be redacted to “shade or blacken” out images of his private parts, a Miami-Dade judge ruled Tuesday.
Bieber, though a worldwide celebrity whose every move is followed by the media, still enjoys a right to privacy while in police custody, he said.
“He has not lost his expectation of dignity, and that’s what’s most important here,” Miami-Dade County Judge Bill Altfield told lawyers in court Tuesday.
Three other clips reviewed by the judge will be released to the media in the coming days, while a judge will work with a technician to redact images that “depict or appear” to depict Bieber’s privates in the two others.
Bieber, 20, was arrested in January for DUI after officers said he was drag racing a Lamborghini on a residential road in South Beach. He admitted to smoking marijuana and taking prescription pain killers, according to police.
Last week, more than 10 hours of police station videos were released by prosecutors, including clips of the troubled singer wobbling while walking a white line during a sobriety test inside the police station.
But his defense team has argued that five of the clips were inappropriate for release, even under Florida’s liberal public records law that makes more evidence in a criminal case open to the media.
Lawyers for the media, including the Miami Herald, said that Bieber’s genitalia can be blacked out but the videos must be released under the law.
Also on Tuesday, the judge scheduled another hearing for next week, when lawyers will set a possible trial date. Bieber’s attorney, Roy Black, waived the singer’s right to a speedy trial.
AFP Photo/Joe Raedle
