Oscar-winner Stone admits marijuana charge

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour possession of marijuana while driving charge stemming from a police checkpoint stop, officials said.

Stone’s lawyer entered the plea for his client yesterday in Beverly Hills Superior Court, said a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The director, who won Oscars for Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, was not in court.

Stone, 58, was arrested at a drunk-driving checkpoint on May 27. He paid an €80 fine and court assessments, a court representative said.

In 1999, Stone pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour marijuana possession charge and driving under the influence.

His next project is a film about a pair of police officers rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. Nicolas Cage has signed on to star in the production.