Willie Nelson charged with marijuana possession

[the Watcher]

UPDATE

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/68404/239424

Willie Nelson, who was arrested last week in Texas for having pot on his bus, has been charged with misdemeanor possession. Nelson was originally charged with carrying six ounces, a felony with a maximum sentence of two years in prison plus a $10,000 fine, but the amount was knocked down to four ounces, which carries a maximum penalty of one year and $4,000. (This is according to NORML'S website; TMZ claims that Nelson cannot be jailed on the misdemeanor charge.)

Mickey Raphael, Nelson's longtime harmonica player, told Rolling Stone on Saturday that the singer, who was released after posting a $2,500 bond, was doing fine after the bust: "He said he feels great — he lost six ounces." (Now we assume Nelson would say four.)

Photos, Farm Aid 25: Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, Steven Tyler and More

Texas attorney Dick DeGuerin, a criminal defense lawyer who recently represented Tom Delay and country singer Billy Joe Shaver, questioned the lawfulness of the search, which as he pointed out, occurred 100 miles from the Mexican border. "It's supposed to be a checkpoint only for aliens, and [agents] overstep their authority all the time," he told Rolling Stone. "I've had several cases from that checkpoint and they just use the opportunity to check out anybody they want to. If you have long hair, if you're driving a van or it looks like you're from California or you look like a hippie, they do profiling."

[manshank]

legalize baby.............it really ticks me off that someone could smoke a joint two weeks ago, get in some sort of accident today be it car or work, than test postive and lose thier job or worse. Bull crap so it is..................you go Willie!

We have a border checkpoint set up on the interstate about 120 miles from the Canadian Border. Yeah whatever....................

[the Watcher]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns- ... 2186.story

I recall righteous outrage was the board consensus last time Willie got pinched - in NOLA, if memory serves. I guess law enforcement are just doing their jobs, but this seems more and more silly by the day.

OTOH, wonder what Willie is thinking. The article doesn't elaborate, but it sounds like this may have been a border checkpoint...in which case he shouldn't have caught off guard. Maybe it was a random checkpoint though?

Or maybe Willie is on the activist tip and wanted to be arrested? There is something of a critical mass developing re decriminalization.