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News organisations are reporting that Whitney Houston will be charged by Hawaiian prosecutors with third degree promotion of a detrimental drug. This is a misdemeanour charge that stems from an alleged incident in January at the Keahole-Kona International Airport wherein airport authorities are said to have found 15.2 grams of marijuana in Whitney's bag. Deputy Prosecutor Mel Fujino confirmed that the Hawaii County Prosecutor's Office will charge Whitney. If found guilty, the charge is punishable with up to 30 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Prosecutors have reportedly given Whitney until the arraignment date, 26 October, to voluntarily turn herself in. If she doesn't, Whitney will have a warrant out for her arrest. "If [the judge] grants it, then it would be put in the state warrant system, and then if she comes back in the state, she could be arrested," Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Iboshi has said in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. "For petty misdemeanors we do not extradite." The decision to charge Whitney is a change of mind for the prosecutor's office. In April, it returned the case to police for further investigation after determining there wasn't enough initial evidence - which included fingerprints and analysis of the contents of the bag - to press charges. In an interview back in May, Whitney had this to say: "It wasn't anything like it went down, that's all I
can say...My name got slashed, slapped on there, so I'm not even gonna talk about it. It's
like in here [points to her heart], I want to get it out, but I can't because it's gonna
cause a lot of shit." NEWSFILE: 23 SEPTEMBER 2000 |