Judge and prosecutor smoke evidence, dismiss doper case

Any last requests? Judge offers to let Willie Nelson off drugs jail sentence . . . so long as he sings her favourite song in court

By SIMON NEVILLE
London Daily Mail
28th March 2011

Singer-songwriter and marijuana enthusiast Willie Nelson could have faced a lengthy jail term after he was arrested for possession in November.

But perhaps the Texas prosecutor has been smoking some of Willie’s special cigarettes, because he has agreed to let the 77-year-old legend avoid prison but only if he gives the court a song.

Hudspeth County Attorney Kit Bramblett said: ‘I’m gonna let him plead, pay a small fine and he’s gotta sing “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” with his guitar right there in the courtroom.’

He added: ‘You bet you’re ass I ain’t gonna be mean to Willie Nelson.’

Nelson was arrested in November his tour bus was crossing the Mexican border into Hudspeth County, Texas on its way to Los Angeles when officers smelled cannabis coming from inside.

The bus was searched and six ounces was discovered, which Nelson said was his.
He posted a $2,500 bail and the bus was allowed to go on its way.

Nelson is a keen advocate of legalising the drug and is co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Local laws say that anything below three ounces is considered a misdemeanour, which Bramblett usually pushes for a fine and court costs, which are paid through the mail.

When Nelson’s papers came to County Judge Becky Walker’s desk, she told Bramblett to call the singer to her court, which he promptly did.

Although initially stopped with 6 ounces, with packaging removed the weight was less than three.

Bramblett, who prosecutes between 10 and 12 marijuana possession cases a month joked: ‘Between me and the sheriff, we threw out enough of it or smoked enough so that there’s only three ounces, which is within my jurisdiction.’

It is understood the singer will agree to the demand when his tour is next in town.
It is not the first time the singer has been arrested for drug possession.

In January of this year, six of Nelson's band and crew members were stopped in North Carolina for allegedly possessing moonshine and cannabis in a vehicle they travelling in. They were issued with citations.

And back in 2006 Louisiana authorities searched Nelson's tour bus and found about a pound-and-a-half of marijuana and magic mushrooms.

'It’s a matter of time, a matter of education, a matter of people finding out what cannabis, marijuana is for, why it grows out of the ground and why it’s prescribed as one of the greatest stress medicines on the planet,' he said during an interview in 2008.



During national alcohol Prohibition, juries routinely drank the evidence then found bootleggers Not Guilty for lack of evidence.

Not so during the current national alcohol Prohibition.