Baylor Ex Brittney Griner's Defense Team Presents Case To Russian Court
Former Baylor Bears and current WNBA star Brittney Griner has been in detainment in Russia for over 150 days following an arrest at Sheremetyevo International Airport.
And on Tuesday, herdefense team made its case to a Russian court arguing that she owned a medical prescription for the cannabis oil found in her luggage at a Moscow airport.
"With the prescription in place, Brittney may have used it for medical but not recreational purposes," Griner's lawyer Maria Blagovolina said.
According to reports, Griner used medicinal cannabis to treat chronic pain. Griner's defense team also presented the court with a letter from her doctor as evidence of the prescription nearly two weeks ago.
However, while Griner's team indeed sites a medical prescription, her lawyers also stated that the purpose of the oil being in her luggage was not due to that prescription but because of a simple mistake on Griner's part.
"We are not arguing that Brittney took it here as a medicine. We are still saying that she involuntarily brought it here because she was in a rush," defense attorney Alexander Boykov said. "The Russian public has to know, and the Russian court in the first place has to know, that it was not used for recreational purposes in the United States. It was prescribed by a doctor."
Griner has already pled guilty to carrying the vape cartridges in her luggage at the time of the arrest but declared no criminal intent.
She could spend up to 10 years in a Russian prison if convicted.
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