Basketball star Brittney Griner returned to a Russian courtroom on Tuesday as her trial on charges of possessing cannabis when she entered the country earlier this year continues. Griner, a WNBA champion and Olympic gold medal winner, was detained at an airport near Moscow in February after customs agents reportedly found vape cartridges containing a total of less than one gram of cannabis oil in her luggage.

Wearing handcuffs, Griner was escorted into the courtroom in Khimki, the Moscow suburb where the airport is located, for the seventh hearing of the trial and placed in a cage reserved for defendants. While confined, she held up personal photos in the view of those present in the courtroom.

Griner has pleaded guilty and admitted to bringing the vape cartridges with her into Russia, although she testified that she was not sure how they made their way into her luggage. She also told the court that she did not intend to violate Russian law.

Defense Team Challenges Evidence Against Griner

During Tuesday’s hearing, Griner’s defense team challenged the analysis of the vape cartridges and questioned prosecution witness Alexander Korablyov, who examined the cartridges taken from Griner’s luggage. The defense also presented an expert witness who said the analysis of the cartridges was not performed in accordance with Russian law.

“The examination does not comply with the law in terms of the completeness of the study and does not comply with the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” forensic chemist Dmitry Gladyshev testified during the court hearing that lasted about two hours, according to a report from CNN.

After the hearing, Blagovolina said the analysis was not compliant because it did not establish the percentage of THC of the cannabis oil contained in the cartridges. Another lawyer representing the basketball star, Aleksandr Boikov, said that “it would be wrong to establish the exact amount” of cannabis the cartridges contained based on Korablyov’s analysis.

Griner’s defense team has also presented evidence to the court that she had obtained a doctor’s recommendation to use medical marijuana under Arizona’s state medicinal cannabis program.

“There are a lot of factors that will taken by the court into account,” Blagovolina told reporters after Tuesday’s hearing, adding that Griner “admitted that she did bring something, but we need to know what she did bring.”

Griner’s trial will continue on Thursday, when attorneys are expected to deliver their final statements. Blagovolina said that Griner is focused but nervous as the verdict approaches.

“She still knows that the end is near, and of course she heard the news so she’s hoping that sometime she could be coming home, and we hope, too,” Blagovolina added.

Elizabeth Rood, the charge d’affaires of the U.S. embassy in Moscow, attended Tuesday’s hearing. Afterward, she said that the U.S. would “continue to support Miss Griner through every step of this process and as long as it takes to bring her home to the United States safely.”

U.S. Offers Prisoner Exchange

Despite her guilty plea, Griner has been classified as wrongfully detained by the U.S. State Department. A conviction in the case could clear the way for Griner to be released in a potential exchange of prisoners by Russia and the United States.

Last week, the administration of President Joseph Biden revealed that the U.S. government has extended an offer to swap Griner and fellow American Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine being held in Russia on espionage charges, in a prisoner exchange for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday that Russia has made a “bad faith” response to the offer from the U.S. government. Without elaborating, she said that U.S. officials do not consider the counteroffer from Russia to be serious. When asked about the Biden administration’s most recent House comments referring to the Russian counteroffer, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to provide any details.

“Any exchange of information on the subject should be discreet without any ‘loudspeaker diplomacy,’” he told reporters. “Public exchange of positions will not yield any result.”

Griner is a seven-time WNBA All-Star center who has played for the Phoenix Mercury since 2013, including the team’s 2014 league championship crew. She has also won the Olympic gold medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team two times.

Griner has played seven seasons of professional basketball in Russia during the winter, a common practice among WNBA players. She earns about $1 million per season to play in Russia, about four times the salary she earns playing for Phoenix.

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Brittney Griner’s trial on cannabis possession charges continued in Russia on Friday, with the WNBA star’s attorneys telling the court that she has a doctor’s recommendation to use medical pot. Griner was arrested at an airport near Moscow in February after customs agents reportedly found vape cartridges containing less than one gram of cannabis oil in her luggage as she made her way through a security checkpoint. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison.

At a hearing on Friday, her defense team submitted evidence that could elicit leniency from the court, including documentation that she has a doctor’s recommendation to use medical cannabis in the United States. The defense also submitted evidence that Griner had recently passed an anti-doping drug screening, with no prohibited substances found in her system.

“The defense today provided written evidence, including character materials, medical documents and tax returns,” Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, told Reuters.

“Among the medical documents is a doctor’s note for the substance that Brittney Griner inadvertently left among her belongings when crossing the border,” she said.

Griner’s lawyers also noted that the recommendation to use cannabis medicinally had been sanctioned by the state government in Arizona, where she is the star center for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

“The attending physician gave Brittney recommendations for the use of medical cannabis,” Blagovolina added. “The permission was issued on behalf of the Arizona Department of Health.”

Griner’s Plea

Griner’s trial began on July 1 in a courtroom in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow where the airport is located. She pleaded guilty on July 7 to the charges she faces, although she told the court that she did not intend to commit a crime and that she had packed for her trip quickly, unaware that the vape cartridges were in her luggage. While Griner has already pleaded guilty, her trial continues as the court considers the circumstances of the alleged offense.

In a statement after Griner entered her plea, her legal team said that it was the WNBA star’s decision to plead guilty to the charges, adding that the move “sets an example of being brave.”

“She decided to take full responsibility for her actions as she knows that she is a role model for many people,” the attorneys said. “Considering the nature of her case, the insignificant amount of the substance and BG’s personality and history of positive contributions to global and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as a mitigating factor and there will be no severe sentence.”

On Thursday, some of Griner’s teammates on the Russian basketball team she plays for, UMMC Ekaterinburg, addressed the court as character witnesses. Team captain Evgeniya Belyakova told the court that Griner is “the heart of our team,” according to a tweet from Moscow NPR correspondent Charles Maynes, and said that fans in Russia “adore her.”

After the hearing, Griner’s attorneys said that UMMC Ekaterinburg director Maxim Ryabkov “gave a positive description of Brittney Griner during his speech in court, noting her outstanding abilities as a player and personal contribution to strengthening the team spirit, which allowed the team to achieve the highest results in the Russian basketball premier league and in international competitions for many years.”

Griner ‘Wrongfully Detained’

The U.S. State Department has officially listed Griner as wrongfully detained and the White House has said that President Joe Biden is doing everything he can to secure her release from Russia. Media reports have speculated that the governments of the United States and Russia could eventually engineer a swap of prisoners, with the American authorities perhaps releasing Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence for conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing assistance to a terrorist organization.

After Friday’s hearing, U.S. Embassy charge d’affaires Elizabeth Rood commented on the support Griner has received during her trial.

“In the hearings yesterday and today what became very clear is the tremendous amount of respect and admiration both in the United States and here in Russia where Miss Griner has been playing basketball for seven years, not only for her professional achievements but for her character and integrity,” she said outside the courthouse.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, the senior Russian diplomat, has declined to comment on a potential prisoner swap, noting that until her trial concludes “there are no formal or procedural reasons to talk about any further steps.”

Ryabkov also warned that criticism from the United States, including Griner’s status as wrongfully detained and negative comments about the Russian court system, “makes it difficult to engage in detailed discussion of any possible exchanges.”

The next hearing in Griner’s trial is scheduled for July 26. Her legal team has said that they expect the trial to conclude sometime in August, although her detention has been extended until December 20 by Russian authorities.

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WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has spent more than four months in a Russian prison, will go on trial for cannabis possession charges on Friday. Griner was arrested at an airport near Moscow in February after customs officials reportedly found cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. Since then, her detention has been extended several times as Russian authorities prepared to prosecute her for the alleged offense.

On Monday, Griner appeared at a court in the Moscow suburb of Khimki for a preliminary hearing. Appearing apprehensive as she was escorted into the courtroom in handcuffs, Griner’s detention was extended for another six months pending the outcome of her prosecution, according to her attorney, Alexander Boikov, who confirmed the Friday start of her trial to CNN. Video shared by an NPR reporter showed Griner entering and leaving the courtroom in the custody of authorities.

“It was good to see her in some of those images, but it’s tough. Every time’s a reminder that their teammate, their friend, is wrongfully imprisoned in another country,” Phoenix Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said on Monday after news of Griner’s court appearance broke. “It’s tough on our team. It is good to see her. See how she’s doing? I don’t know if she’s doing OK.

“At least we get to see an image of her. Hopefully with this trial happening quickly that some things will change and that President Biden will take the steps to ensure she comes home.”

Boikov told The New York Times that depending on the court’s workload, Griner’s trial on cannabis possession charges could last as long as two months.

Congressman Says Brittney Griner Is ‘Political Prisoner’

Griner’s arrest and detention came to light in the early days of Russia’s war with neighboring Ukraine. With much of the world community united against Russian President Vladimir Putin with economic sanctions and other measures, many see the WNBA star center’s prosecution as a political act designed to gain concessions from the West.

U.S Representative Colin Allred, who represents Griner’s home district in Texas, said that she is “for intents and purposes a political prisoner” and warned her fans to be ready for a “sham” trial that results in a conviction and prison time.

“This will all mean nothing, and I will keep working closely with the Biden Administration to bring her, and all Americans detained abroad, home safely,” Allred said in a statement to The Washington Post.

The congressman added that Griner’s court appearance this week and impending trial “are all theater to give Russia some appearance of having a fair legal system and for her detention to be anything other than a deeply cynical, geo-political power play with a prominent American and to put more pressure on the negotiations for her release.”

On June 14, the Russian state news agency TASS reported that Griner’s detention has been extended until at least July 2, the second time authorities have lengthened her stay in jail as she awaits a hearing in the case. At the time, Aron Solomon, the chief legal analyst for Esquire Digital, told Insider that he believed that the reported deadline “is as fictitious as any other date.”

“Anyone still taking Russia’s word for anything in the Griner case is being foolish,” he said. “This ‘hearing’ will never happen.”

“She will either be clandestinely found guilty and sent to prison camp or she will be in a prisoner swap,” Solomon added.

Griner is a seven-time WNBA All-Star center who has played for the Phoenix Mercury since the 2013 season, including the team’s 2014 league championship crew. She has also twice won the Olympic gold medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team.

Griner has played seven seasons of professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA off-season, a common practice among the league’s players. She earns about $1 million per season to play in Russia, about four times the salary she earns playing for the WNBA. On January 29, Griner played her latest game with her team UMMC Ekaterinburg before the Russian league took a break for the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournaments.

The Russian Customs Service reported on March 5 that an American women’s basketball player had been detained after cannabis vape cartridges were discovered in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport. The date of the arrest was not given and the name of the player was not included in the report. Russian authorities also released a video that appeared to show the star center with customs officials at an airport security checkpoint.

The Russian state news agency TASS later reported that the arrested player was Griner. Although the date of Griner’s arrest was not announced, media outlets reported that she has been in custody since February 17. After news of the arrest made headlines, the WNBA and the players’ union issued messages of support for the star athlete.

“Brittney Griner has the WNBA’s full support, and our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States,” the league said in a statement after Griner’s arrest was announced.

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