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Last Updated: Thursday, 25 January 2007, 14:08 GMT
Snoop Dogg denies weapons charge
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg has a previous conviction for cocaine possession
Rapper Snoop Dogg has pleaded innocent to a charge of possessing a deadly weapon at a California airport.

The 35-year-old, who did not appear at a court hearing in Santa Ana, near Los Angeles, to enter his plea, asked for a speedy trial through his lawyer.

The US performer was charged last year after a collapsible baton was found in his baggage as he boarded a flight to New York last September.

The rap star faces weapons and drugs charges from two other 2006 arrests.

The baton extends from 8 to 21 inches (20 cm to 53 cm) and is classified as a dangerous weapon.

Movie prop

Bringing one onto a plane in the US carries a maximum prison sentence of three years.

At the time the rapper, real name Calvin Broadus, reportedly claimed the truncheon was a movie prop.

One month after the incident at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Snoop Dogg was arrested at another airport after a gun and a quantity of cannabis were allegedly found in his car.

A third arrest followed after a TV appearance in Burbank in December. On that occasion, police allegedly found marijuana, cocaine and a firearm in his vehicle.

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