Rock legend Springsteen guilty of public drinking
TRENTON: Prosecutors have dismissed the two most serious criminal charges filed last year against the rock icon Bruce Springsteen — drunken driving and reckless driving — during a brief hearing at a federal court in New Jersey.
Springsteen, 71, did, however, plead guilty to the least serious of the three charges he was facing: drinking alcohol in a closed area, where it was barred. He was fined US$540 (16,000 baht).
“Two small shots of tequila,” Springsteen said as his lawyer, Mitchell Ansell, led him through the hearing, which was conducted over a videoconferencing app.
“Mr Springsteen, how long do you need to pay the fine?” said the federal magistrate judge, Anthony Mautone.
“I think I can pay that immediately, your honour,” Springsteen answered.
In dismissing the more serious charges, prosecutors noted that Mr Springsteen’s blood-alcohol level was 0.02%, well below New Jersey’s 0.08% legal limit.
“The defendant would be considered presumptively not impaired,” the assistant US attorney, Adam Baker, said during the 22-minute hearing.
The National Park Service ranger who arrested Springsteen had said that the singer-songwriter refused an initial breath test after he was stopped on his motorcycle on Nov 14.
“That test is not required by law,” Mr Baker added.
Mr Mautone went further, noting that even if Springsteen had agreed to the initial test, it would not have been legal to admit the results as evidence anyway.
Springsteen, widely regarded one of the most celebrated popular musicians of his generation with 20 Grammy Awards, was arrested after the ranger witnessed him drink a shot of tequila in a national park.