Woody Harrelson's Trial Goes to Pot

Thu., Aug. 24, 2000 5:00 PM PDT by Mark Armstrong

With a little help from an unlikely hemp-pushing pal, Woody Harrelson is a free man after standing trial on pot charges.

The former Cheers barkeep turned hemp crusader was found not guilty Thursday of a marijuana possession rap stemming from his ceremonious planting of four hemp seeds in a Lee County, Kentucky, field four years ago. A six-person jury deliberated for all of 25 minutes before reaching its verdict, and the film star promptly signed autographs and thanked jurors for their decision.

Harrelson also found support Thursday from none other than former Kentucky Governor Louie Nunn, who testified in Lee District Court on Harrelson's behalf, saying the Wood-man wasn't trying to break the laws, just challenge them.

Harrelson, 39, first began his clash with Kentucky authorities in 1996, claiming that the state's pot laws were unjust. Current state laws don't differentiate between industrial hemp (which can be used to make paper, cloth and those neat little necklaces you can buy at Phish concerts) and its more stoner-friendly cannabis relative, marijuana.

The cultivation-lovin' star of Play It to the Bone and White Men Can't Jump appealed his case to the Kentucky Supreme Court, but in March, the high court ordered him to stand trial. Harrelson could have faced a $500 fine and 12 months in jail if convicted.

Prosecutors initially offered to go easy on the film star if he accepted to a 30-day jail sentence, or agreed to stay away from hemp and marijuana in Kentucky for a year. Harrelson rejected the proposal, and prosecutors on Thursday asked the jury to give Harrelson (who showed up to court in a suit made of hemp) a $500 dollar fine and a 30-day jail sentence.

Meanwhile, Nunn, a Republican who served as governor from 1967-1971, has become an outspoken advocate of hemp and joined Harrelson's side in June. "I feel this is a way to disseminate information on industrial hemp because of the personalities involved," Nunn said at the time.

As if Nunn's help wasn't enough, Woody's trial had a somewhat serendipitous beginning: The jury reportedly received his case at, um, 4:20 p.m.