Winehouse to appeal pot possession fine
Showbiz Desk

OSLO—Amy Winehouse will appeal a fine for marijuana possession, claiming Norwegian police made mistakes in the case. Winehouse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in the western city of Bergen on Oct. 18 and held overnight on charges of illegal drug possession.
They were released the next morning after paying fines of $715 each on charges of possessing seven grams (about 1/4-ounce) of marijuana, and they continued a European tour. Winehouse’s Norwegian attorney, Ole Kvelstad, said the 24-year-old British singer-songwriter was appealing to the Gulating district court because she hadn’t understood that, under Norwegian law, accepting a fine is the same as pleading guilty.
“This is an appeal of errors police made in the case,” he said by telephone Thursday. He said she was interrogated without legal representation or an interpreter and had not fully understood the Norwegian-language charges she was signing. Kvelstad said pleading guilty in a drug case could have serious consequences when Winehouse seeks to enter the United States.
Bergen Police Attorney Rudolf Christoffersen said Winehouse was questioned by an English-speaking police officer, who translated charges and explained the consequences of accepting the fine.
If the appeals court allows Winehouse to withdraw her acceptance of the fine, the original charges would normally go to trial. She was to perform at the 2007 mtvU Woodie Awards in New York City next Thursday, but MTV representative Jason Rzepka said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that “due to visa issues, Amy Winehouse will not be able to travel to the States.” “We’ve been longtime supporters of Amy and her musical endeavours and look forward to working with her again in the future,” Rzepka said.
Winehouse has spoken openly about her penchant for alcohol and marijuana, and her hit single “Rehab” is an autobiographical tale of her resistance to being pushed to go to rehab: “They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said no, no, no”.