Rose McGowan Is Fighting Her Felony Drug Charge

Rose McGowan in Citizen Rose

Rose McGowan is putting up another fight, this time with the court of law. After the actress/activist was charged with felony drug possession in Virginia back in November, McGowan is seeking to dismiss the allegations. She believing that she was framed, and wrongfully convicted of holding drugs in her person.

The news comes from E!, who reports that Rose McGowan is dismissing the criminal charges due to "lack of jurisdiction." The incident occurred on November 14th, when authorities confiscated cocaine inside her wallet. The actress reportedly left it at the Dulles International Airport on a United airplane while she was on her way to the Women's March in Washington, D.C.. McGowan wants the case dismissed partly because there was a five hour period of time when the wallet was lost, and when it was found by the plane's cleaning crew. She turned herself over for arrest shortly thereafter.

According to Jessica Carmichael, McGowan's attorney her client was once again, the subject of the "Harvey Weinstein machine" during that five hour period of time. The outspoken actress believes the drugs found inside her wallet were possibly planted by a person working with the disgraced Hollywood producer, who McGowan alleges sexually assaulted her. McGowan called the whole incident "horseshit" on Twitter, and when the actress was arrested, she said publicly that she would "clearly plead not guilty" to the charges. Here is a statement issued by Carmichael about the upcoming case.

It is now public knowledge that Weinstein employed underhanded tactics to 'silence' his victims... There is simply no point in time at which the evidence places Ms. McGowan and the cocaine together in the same place.

Rose McGowan is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 12 in Leesburg, Virginia. The attorney continues defending her client by stressing that many people came and went into the airplane during the multiple hours in which McGowan was separated from her wallet. Jessica Carmichael is also seeking to dismiss it on the grounds that the case should be in federal court, not state court, as it was held on an airplane in interstate commerce. She notes that when it's unclear what state the crime took place in and when it "cannot be determined," it falls under the "special aircraft jurisdiction of the federal courts." Throughout this whole ordeal, Carmichael claims continuously that her client "maintained her innocence" about the messy situation.

Rose McGowan has remained a prominent and vocal activist for the #MeToo movement throughout this past year, and the Grindhouse actress recently published her first book, Brave, which hit bookshelves on January 30th. She recently canceled her book tour after an altercation with a disgruntled attendee at her New York City signing went viral. McGowan hasn't kept silent in that time. She is also the subject of an E! reality series, Citizen Rose.

TOPICS
Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.