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During a recent court appearance lawyers told the Russian court that Brittney Griner was prescribed medical cannabis. According to The Washington Post, her lawyer Maria Blagovolina, a partner at law firm Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin & Partners, said she received this prescription due to suffering from chronic pain.
Brittney Griner pled guilty to drug charges last week. She was arrested at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 after two vape catridges containing 0.702 grams of cannabis oil was found in her luggage. She told the court that she packed the cartridges by accident, the Post reported. Griner plays basketball in Russia during the WNBA off-season for the UMMC Ekaterinburg.
In pictures from her court appearance in Russia, Griner seemed to be in better spirits. She’s seen smiling while in the detainee cage. She also proudly held up a photo of her teammates all wearing her number 42 during WNBA All-Star weekend.
During court, two people came to serve as character witnesses on Griner’s behalf. UMMC Ekaterinburg teammate Evgeniya Belyakova and Maxim Ryabkov, the team’s general manager, both spoke to the judge and said Griner was a great player and law abiding citizen while in Russia for the past six seasons.
“Our task today was to tell the court about her characteristics as an athlete, as a person — tell about how she played a big role in the success of the Ekaterinburg club and Russian women’s basketball as a whole,” Ryabkov told reporters according to ESPN. “Today is the first day when we have seen our basketball player since February. Thank God, she feels well, looks good.”
This was the first time the Phoenix Mercury player got to see anyone she’s known in person since her February arrest.
“It was an extremely emotional day for Brittney, who was touched by the appearance of the club director, head physician and her teammate, who gave an extremely positive description of our client both personally and professionally,” Blagovolina told Reuters.
The trial has been adjourned until July 26.
