WACO, Texas, March 23 -- A county judge dismissed marijuana possession charges against Willie Nelson, ruling that the singer's May 1994 arrest in the small central Texas town of Hewitt was illegal. Saying 'Don't do it in Hewitt,' Nelson took the opportunity to call for the legalization of marijuana.
'I think it should be taxed and regulated like your cigarettes,' said Nelson, who for years has admitted being a regular marijuana user. Nelson wasreturning to Austin from a late-night poker game in Hillsboro last May when he pulled over to sleep on Interstate 35. He was arrested by Hewitt Police Sgt. Michael Cooper, who suspected marijuana was in Nelson's car when he peered through the window and saw a hand- rolled cigarette and some rolling papers. Judge Michael Gassaway ruled Wednesday there was insufficient evidence to justify a search of Nelson's car, a 1986 Mercedes, and ordered the pot charge dismissed. Cooper has since been fired from the Hewitt Police Department. 'Willie's free,' proclaimed Joe Turner, Nelson's lead attorney. Turner said there were discrepancies in the officer's version of where he found the marijuana, and that during the encounter, police twice switched off a microphone that was part of the patrol car's video recording system. 'He was not a fan,' Nelson said of the arresting officer. 'I do think that once he found out who I was, he thought this might be good for his career.'
