CNN -- Brittney Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in Russian court

[Gaugamela]

Two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty to drug charges in a Russian court near Moscow, her lawyers confirmed to CNN on Thursday.

Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison under the charge. She left the courtroom without giving any comment to reporters, and her next hearing is set for July 14.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/07/europe/brittney-griner-russia-pleads-guilty/index.html

[CentralMass]

1. Ouch. It looks she admits that she had the vape cartridges in her luggage.

That doesn't bode well for any sort of quick release.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. It's more likely than not she did.

That being said mercy is part and parcel of justice. I'm sure she's learned her lesson and I hope we can do a quick prisoner swap for her. As I posted on another board I have much more sympathy for people that do stupid things than people who do evil things.

[shrike3]

5. Same. Stupidity is forgivable, evil is not.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. Incredibly stupid act...

Unfortunately some times the consequences of doing stupid things is as great or greater than doing evil things.

[shrike3]

8. How true. n/t

[MLAA]

17. Indeed

[CentralMass]

6. Around 1% of people charged with crime in Russia are found innocent .

I went from being in the camp that thought the catrudgrs were planted and that she was innocent to she brought this on herself.
Putting it bluntly this was a stupid mistake. She must have been made aware of travel advuserarued and the risks of traveling to Russia.

[SCantiGOP]

14. And an article I read

(I think it was in Vanity Fair) said the best strategy is to plead guilty. Judges just get mad if you assert innocence, and add to the sentence. With a 99% conviction rate you’re not convincing anyone of your innocence anyway.

On edit: the defense submits their case to the prosecutor, who decides what to include in their filing. The judge then reads that into the record, questions the defendant, and renders the decision and sentence. They said judges who have a conviction rate in the low 90s may be replaced.

[highplainsdem]

24. I agree.

[MerryBlooms]

3. I wonder if this means a deal has been reached.

[GoCubsGo]

9. That's what I'm wondering, as well.

[obamanut2012]

10. I am wondering that, too

They will "allow" her to plead guilty, then exchange her for that arms dealer we have.

[Karma13612]

4. Yea, this is unsettling.

Wonder if they convinced her it would be better to plead guilty and hope for much less than 10 years?

Heavens….

[BlackSkimmer]

13. Hell, she travels a lot. She might have even forgotten they were in there.

A horrible thing, but so easy to have happen.

[Hortensis]

19. Never forgetting that Russia is at war with us, attacking using various "asymmetrical"

warfare tactics and illegitimate foreign policies. Russia has been arresting foreigners for leverage and as attacks on their governments for...ever. SOP.

So this detainment of a world-famous American athlete, black, lesbian, and known to use drugs, is taking place within that reality. From what I've read about Russia's activities, almost certainly Putin himself made the decision to arrest and try Griner.

Guilty or innocent of the charges she's been tried on, this isn't about that.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. For this thread

Link to tweet

[MerryBlooms]

12. Thanks for posting the clip.

[Hortensis]

15. This statement doesn't change my opinion of having no opinion about guilt.

Not by someone trapped in the Russian "justice" system. Even in ours innocent people sometimes plead guilty.

Our government's position after whatever investigation we could do is that Griner is wrongfulliy detained.

[Gaugamela]

16. Agreed. I expect she is acting on the advice of the US State Dept., and

putting herself in a position of at least some leniency if a swap can’t be negotiated. I’m fairly optimistic a prisoner swap will happen.

[Hortensis]

18. Think so too, and eventually. Hope it's fairly soon.

[ripcord]

20. A friend told me if the WNBA paid as much as the NBA this wouldn't have been a problem

I pointed out that the WNBA doesn't make money because people don't enjoy watching it anywhere near as much as the NBA, the NBA takes in over $7 billion a year while the WNBA earns $60 million a year and cost $70 million to run so they can't afford to pay equal salaries.

[Elessar Zappa]

22. Yes, but they could afford to pay them a little more.

They’re very underpaid.

[MichMan]

23. Since the NBA operates both, they could combine the players in the same bargaining unit

and split the pool of money more equitably. Typically money from TV contracts, league sponsorships, merchandise etc. are pooled and divided equally to the teams and flows from there to the players. The league sets minimum salaries, not the teams.

That might mean however, that the top NBA players like a Stephen Curry might have to figure out how to survive on earning only $30 million a year instead of $40 million.

[CentralMass]

27. The NBA subsidizes the WNBA.

[MichMan]

21. She will probably be swapped for some Russian murderer

Who will then go back to Russia to continue killing more people.

[Gaugamela]

25. Likely Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. The judge who presided in the case

supports the exchange.

“There’s a problem with releasing a convicted arms trafficker for Griner, whose drug possession would probably only be a fine in the U.S.,” says Shira Scheindlin, the retired federal judge who presided over the Bout trial and was required to sentence him to the 25-year mandatory minimum. “It would be better if Bout – who has already served too much time in my opinion – was exchanged for both Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Then there would be some moral equivalency about which few could complain.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/geraldposner/2022/05/19/brittney-griner-involved-in-possible-prisoner-swap-with-russia/?sh=4742e8b93d2d

[Liberal In Texas]

26. Yeah, a Russian court. Any kangaroos present?

She was probably put under extreme pressure to plead guilty. She might have wanted to keep being fed once in awhile in the jail. Or didn't want any more beatings.