Brittney Griner: Exam of substance in vape cartridges violated Russian regulation, protection professional says

Read Time:5 Minute, 48 Second

Among the many violations is that outcomes of the examination don’t present the quantity of THC within the substance, Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, mentioned after the listening to.

“The examination doesn’t adjust to the regulation by way of the completeness of the research and doesn’t adjust to the norms of the Code of Felony Process,” forensic chemist Dmitry Gladyshev testified for the protection through the roughly two-hour session.

The protection additionally interrogated prosecution professional Alexander Korablyov, who examined Griner’s cartridges taken from her baggage.

Griner’s look within the Khimki metropolis courthouse marked her seventh listening to as Russian prosecutors accuse her of making an attempt to smuggle lower than 1 gram of hashish oil in her baggage. She has pleaded responsible to drug expenses — a choice her attorneys hope will end in a much less extreme sentence — and faces as much as 10 years in jail.

Regardless of the responsible plea, the US State Division maintains she is wrongfully detained. Supporters of Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who performs in Russia through the WNBA offseason, have referred to as for her launch over fears she is getting used as a political pawn amid Russia’s conflict on Ukraine.

US officers face immense strain from Griner’s household, lawmakers and the skilled basketball group to convey her house, maybe as a part of a prisoner swap. Griner wrote to President Joe Biden pleading with him to do every part in his energy to facilitate her launch.

The 31-year-old sat Tuesday contained in the defendant’s cage within the courtroom. The cost d’affaires of the US embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, attended Tuesday’s listening to and afterward mentioned the US would “proceed to help Miss Griner by each step of this course of and so long as it takes to convey her house to the USA safely.”

Griner’s subsequent listening to is about for Thursday.

Outdoors the courthouse Tuesday, one in every of her attorneys informed CNN that Griner is concentrated but nervous in regards to the coming verdict.

“… She nonetheless is aware of that the top is close to, and naturally she heard the information so she’s hoping that someday she may very well be coming house, and we hope, too,” Blagovolina mentioned.

Requested about their group’s technique to problem Russian prosecutors’ proof, Blagovolina mentioned: “Properly there are lots of elements which must be taken by the court docket under consideration. She admitted that she did convey one thing, however we have to know what did she convey. What substance?”

Blagovolina additionally informed CNN her group’s consultants recognized “a number of defects” within the machines used to measure the substance.

At trial, Griner has testified she has a physician’s prescription for medical hashish and had no intention of bringing the drug into Russia. Following her detention in February, she was examined for medication and was clear, her attorneys beforehand mentioned.

Attorneys make the case for an ‘improper’ detention

Griner’s attorneys have already laid out some arguments claiming the basketball participant’s detention was not dealt with accurately after she was stopped February 17 by personnel on the Sheremetyevo Worldwide Airport.

Her detention, search and arrest had been “improper,” Alexander Boykov, one in every of her attorneys, mentioned final week, noting extra particulars could be revealed throughout closing arguments.

After she was stopped within the airport, Griner was made to signal paperwork that she didn’t totally perceive, she testified. At first, she mentioned, she was utilizing Google translate on her telephone however was later moved to a different room the place her telephone was taken and he or she was made to signal extra paperwork.

No lawyer was current, she testified, and her rights weren’t defined to her. These rights would come with entry to an lawyer as soon as she was detained and the fitting to know what she was suspected of. Beneath Russian regulation, she ought to have been knowledgeable of her rights inside three hours of her arrest.

In her testimony, Griner “defined to the court docket that she is aware of and respects Russian legal guidelines and by no means meant to interrupt them,” Blagovolina — a associate at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin & Companions — mentioned after final week’s listening to.

The detained participant testified she was conscious of Russian legal guidelines and had no intention of bringing the hashish oil into the nation, noting she was in a rush and “stress packing.”

Griner confirmed she has a physician’s prescription for medical hashish, Blagovolina mentioned, which she makes use of to deal with knee ache and joint irritation.

“We proceed to insist that, by indiscretion, in a rush, she packed her suitcase and didn’t take note of the truth that substances allowed to be used in the USA ended up on this suitcase and arrived within the Russian Federation,” Boykov, of Moscow Authorized Heart, has mentioned.

Kremlin decries ‘megaphone diplomacy’

The Kremlin warned Tuesday that US “megaphone diplomacy” is not going to assist negotiations for a prisoner trade involving Griner.

Talking on a name with journalists, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned Moscow believes these talks must be “discrete.”

“Megaphone diplomacy and public trade of positions is not going to result in outcomes right here,” Peskov added.

The feedback come lower than per week after CNN reported that the Biden administration has proposed a prisoner swap with Russia, providing to launch a convicted Russian arms trafficker, Viktor Bout, in trade for Griner and one other American detainee, Paul Whelan.

Russian officers countered the US provide, a number of sources accustomed to the discussions have mentioned, asking the US to additionally embrace a convicted assassin who was previously a colonel with the Russian spy company, Vadim Krasikov.

US officers didn’t settle for the request as a official counteroffer, the sources informed CNN, partly as a result of the proposal was despatched by a casual backchannel. Krasikov’s launch would even be sophisticated as a result of he’s in German custody.

“It is a dangerous religion try and keep away from a really severe provide and proposal that the USA has put ahead and we urge Russia to take that supply significantly,” Protection Division spokesperson John Kirby informed CNN, later including, “We very a lot wish to see Brittney and Paul come house to their households the place they belong.”

Griner’s household, supporters and WNBA teammates have continued to precise messages of solidarity and hope as they anticipate the conclusion of the trial.

Earlier than trial proceedings final week, the WNBA gamers union tweeted, “Pricey BG … It is early in Moscow. Our day is ending and yours is simply starting. Not a day, not an hour goes by that you just’re not on our minds & in our hearts.”

This story has been up to date with further developments Tuesday.

Correction: A previous model of this story misspelled Brittney Griner’s first identify.

CNN’s Travis Caldwell, Dakin Andone, Kylie Atwood, Evan Perez, Jennifer Hansler, Natasha Bertrand, Frederik Pleitgen, Chris Liakos and Zahra Ullah contributed to this report.