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Brittney Griner’s legal team submitted a letter to a Russian court Friday that showed she had been given medical clearance to use cannabis for chronic pain, wrapping up two days of crucial hearings that focused on the detained American basketball player’s character and athletic career.
The WNBA star pleaded guilty last week to drug offenses after Russian customs officials found vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow airport in February. Griner, who was in Russia playing basketball during her off-season break from the Phoenix Mercury, has been in custody ever since, putting the Biden administration in a diplomatic bind and leaving her distraught family begging for her to be brought home.
A guilty plea does not end trial-like proceedings in Russia, the Associated Press reports, and in further hearings this week her team has presented evidence of her good character, her successful athletic career in both Russia and the U.S., and her legitimate reason to be in possession of cannabis oil.