I wonder if the excessive punishment reflects the court taking offense to her excuse & mitigation evidence rather than the underlying crime. Even in America, some criminal judges hammer a defendant who pleads guilty and then tries to insinuate an absence of guilt with excuse & mitigation evidence during the sentencing phase. After pleading guilty, Griner’s lawyers had her tell the court she did not realize she put the contraband in her suitcase due to ”stress packing.” The prosecutors then displayed contradictory images of a very neatly packed suitcase.
I truly believe the Court manufactured a harsh sentence for political score settling with President Biden. But it was also a risky legal strategy to have Griner admit guilt and then backpedal in the sentencing phase with the dubious “stress packing” excuse.
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