Griner said she had no intention of violating Russian law and that it was wrong to bring a vape cartridge with traces of drugs. “That’s why I pleaded guilty to my charges. I understand everything that was said against me, the charges that are against me and that’s why I pleaded guilty, but I had no intention of breaking any Russian law,” he said. The verdict is expected at 10:45 am. ET. [Original story, published 9:09 a.m. ET] Final hearings began in WNBA star Brittney Griner’s drug-trafficking case in Russia on Thursday, and a verdict is expected later in the day, her attorney said in a media statement. Griner arrived in court in handcuffs on Thursday and was escorted by Russian officers to the defendant’s cage. Once out of handcuffs, she spoke with her legal team and then held up a photo of the UMMC Ekaterinburg basketball team, the Russian team she played for during the WNBA offseason. The hearing in Khimki city court comes six months after Griner, 31, was arrested at a Moscow airport and charged by Russian prosecutors with trying to smuggle less than 1 gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. He faces up to 10 years in prison. The two-time USA basketball gold medalist pleaded guilty to drug charges last month in what her lawyers say was an attempt to take responsibility and show leniency if she is eventually convicted and sentenced.” nature of her case, the paltry amount of her substance and (Griner’s) personality and history of positive contributions to world and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as mitigating and there will not be a severe sentence,” her legal team said last month. At closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor asked for 9.5 years in prison for Griner, according to defense attorney Maria Blagovolina, a partner at the law firm Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin and Partners. In response, Blagovolina argued that Griner never made marijuana in Russia and that she never intended to do so. He did not need to bring the vapor cartridges to Russia, the lawyer added. All this confirms the complete absence of intent in her actions, Blagovolina argued. Even if Griner ever used medical marijuana, it was only at home in Arizona, rare and only by prescription, he added. She couldn’t have known how strict the laws were in Russia, Blagovolina said. Griner said in brief remarks during the hearing that she agreed with everything her defense attorneys said in court. Another of Griner’s lawyers, Alexander Boykov, argued that Griner had not had a chance to properly review the court documents. He said that the Russian constitution guarantees everyone the right to use their mother tongue and the free choice of the language of communication. Boykov cited an example when a language interpreter provided to Griner flipped through a lengthy document offered by an investigator for translation and then told Griner, “Basically, it means you’re guilty.” The U.S. State Department maintains that Griner is being held unjustly, and her supporters have called for her release and asked the U.S. to take further steps to try to free her from the country, perhaps as part of a proposed prisoner exchange. “She’s still focused and she’s still nervous. And she still knows the end is near, and of course she heard the news, so she’s hoping that at some point she could come home, and we’re hoping as well,” Blagovolina said Tuesday. Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Russia, Elizabeth Rudd, arrived in court Thursday ahead of the hearing. He appeared in court throughout the trial and on Tuesday said the US “will continue to support Ms. Griner through every step of this process and for as long as it takes to bring her home to the United States safely.”

How did the trial go?

Griner’s lawyers have already laid out some arguments undermining the prosecution’s case, arguing that the basketball player’s detention was mishandled after she was stopped on February 17 by staff at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Her detention, search and arrest were “inappropriate,” Boykov said last week, noting that more details would be revealed during the final hearing. After being stopped at the airport, Griner was forced to sign documents she did not fully understand, she testified. At first, she said, she used Google Translate on her phone, but was later taken to another room where they took her phone and made her sign more documents. No attorney was present, Griner testified, and her rights were not explained to her. These rights would include access to a lawyer once detained and the right to know what she was suspected of. Under Russian law, she should have been informed of her rights within three hours of her arrest. On Tuesday, at the seventh hearing in her case, a defense expert testified that testing the substance in Griner’s vapor cartridges did not comply with Russian law. Blagovolina also told CNN that her team’s experts found “some flaws” in the machines used to measure the substance. At trial, Griner testified that she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis and had no intention of bringing the drug into Russia. After her arrest in February, she underwent a drug test and came back clean, her lawyers previously said. In her testimony, Griner “explained to the court that she knows and respects Russian laws and never intended to violate them,” Blagovolina said after last week’s hearing. “We continue to insist that she indiscriminately, hastily, packed her suitcase and did not pay attention to the fact that substances permitted for use in the United States ended up in that suitcase and reached the Russian Federation,” Boykov said. of the Moscow Legal Center, he said. The trial was held in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the country’s clash with the US and Europe. Last week, CNN reported that President Joe Biden’s administration proposed a prisoner swap with Russia, offering to release a convicted Russian arms dealer, Victor Bout, in exchange for Griner and another American prisoner, Paul Whelan. Russian officials countered the U.S. offer, multiple sources familiar with the discussions said, but U.S. officials did not accept the request as a legitimate counteroffer. The Kremlin also warned on Tuesday that US “bullseye diplomacy” would not help the prisoner swap negotiations involving Griner. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow believes these talks should be “discrete”. Griner’s family, supporters and teammates in the WNBA continued to express messages of solidarity and hope as they await the conclusion of the trial. The WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury are slated to play the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET. Before the trial last week, the WNBA players’ association tweeted: “Dear BG… It’s early in Moscow. Our day is ending and yours is just beginning. Not a day, not an hour goes by without you are on our minds & in our hearts”. CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe, Travis Caldwell, Dakin Andone, Kylie Atwood, Evan Perez, Jennifer Hansler, Natasha Bertrand, Frederik Pleitgen, Chris Liakos and Masha Angelova contributed to this report.