An emotional Brittney Griner has apologised for her actions as her drug possession trial drew to a close in Russia. 9News
With a judge set to issue a verdict later in the day and a conviction all but certain, Griner made a final appeal to the court and said she had no intention to break the law by bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil when she flew to Moscow in February to play basketball in the city of Yekaterinburg.
Although a conviction is all but certain, given that Russian courts rarely acquit defendants and Griner has admitted to having vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage, judges have considerable latitude on sentencing. Blagovolina asked the court to acquit Griner, noting that she had no past criminal record and hailing her role in "the development of Russian basketball."
Boykov added that even after her arrest, Griner won the sympathy of both her guards and prison inmates, who supported her by shouting, "Brittney, everything will be OK!" when she went on walks at the jail.Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasenko insisted that Griner packed the cannabis oil deliberately, and he asked the court to hand Briner a fine of 1 million rubles in addition to the prison sentence.
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