Amy Winehouse is just saying "no, no, no" to a pot rap.
Two weeks after the "Rehab" chanteuse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, paid a pair of $715 fines stemming from a marijuana-possession bust in Norway, the couple on Thursday signaled they will appeal the fee. Winehouse and Fielder-Civl claim they did not know that paying the fines was tantamount to pleading guilty to the charges.
In announcing the appeal, their Norway-based attorney, Ole Kvelstad, said Norwegian police made several errors during the arrest. Chief among them, per Kvelstad, was failing to provide an English-language translator to explain why, exactly, they had been locked up.
Kvelstad also said that Winehouse, 24, was interrogated without either an interpreter or lawyer present. He also claims that police did not elucidate the charges.
The trouble-prone pair, along with a third, still unidentified person, were arrested in Bergen, Norway, on Oct. 18, where Winehouse was performing as part of her European tour. They were held overnight.
Police picked up the trio at Winehouse's hotel just after 6 p.m. after receiving a tip from an unidentified party and found the group to be in possession of seven grams of pot.
The following morning, the threesome were released after ponying up the fine and signing a Norwegian-language document.
Although Winehouse now claims she was not made fully aware of what she was signing, Bergen Police Attorney Rudolf Christoffersen has maintained that the singer was only questioned by an English-speaking officer who explained in detail the charges and consequences of paying the fine.
Should her appeal be upheld, the case for her original charges would then move to trial.
Winehouse's challenge would not only go toward clearing her record, but it would also help her begin her oft-postponed U.S. tour.
Should the charges hold, Winehouse, as a convicted drug offender, may not be permitted to enter the States.
Already, her pot case has had professional repurcussions: The singer has pulled out of a planned performance at the mtvU Woodie Awards in New York next week due to issues with her work visa.
The college-oriented ceremony is the second MTV shindig Winehouse has bailed on—the first being the VMAs last September. But the singer is attempting to make nice with the network by honoring her commitments abroad.
In lieu of the New York performance, Winehouse has signed on as very last-minute addition to the lineup at the MTV Europe Music Awards, which are scheduled to take place in Munich tonight.
The singer is up for three trophies at the ceremony, set to be hosted by Snoop Dogg.