The Illinois Supreme Court has reversed actor Jussie Smollett’s disorderly conduct conviction for lying to police that he was the victim of an anti-gay hate crime.
Smollett’s defense team previously appealed his 2021 conviction, arguing that Smollett was wrongly prosecuted despite already agreeing to a plea deal that avoided prison time.
They argued that charging him again with the same crime after agreeing to a non-prosecution agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office constitutes double jeopardy and violates his right to due process.
The Illinois Supreme Court sided with Mr. Smollett, finding that the 42-year-old actor was the subject of retaliatory prosecution based on his outcry over what appeared to be a lenient punishment.
The court’s decision focused primarily on how the case was prosecuted, and did not question the basic facts of whether Smollett had fabricated the story, the report said. new york times.
In 2019, Smollett was the star of the FOX drama at the time. empireclaimed to have been the victim of a hate crime while in Chicago. He said two men yelled racist and homophobic slurs, with one yelling “this is MAGA country”, causing injuries.
He also said the men beat him, poured an “unknown chemical” on him, tied a rope around his neck and fled the scene.
Chicago police determined that Smollett orchestrated the attack and hired brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo to carry it out.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office initially charged Mr. Smollett with 16 charges related to making false reports to police, but a month later, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the charges and Mr. Smollett’s He made a deal with his lawyer agreeing to forfeit $10,000. In exchange for no jail time, he will be bonded and perform 15 hours of community service.
There was widespread outrage nationally from conservatives angry at Mr. Smollett’s attempt to smear Trump supporters, and locally from citizens angry at Mr. Smollett’s actions.
A former Illinois judge subsequently petitioned the court to appoint a special prosecutor to determine the “full extent” of what happened, and former U.S. attorney Dan Webb called for a second indictment of Smollett. I asked for it.
Mr. Webb secured a new indictment against Mr. Smollett, and the jury unanimously found him guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct. Smollett was sentenced to five months in prison, but was released on appeal for just six days.
During sentencing, Judge James Lynn reprimanded Mr. Smollett, saying his actions harmed the victims of actual hate crimes. Mr. Lin also directed Mr. Smollett to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the Chicago Police Department for its investigation costs.
“Today we resolve the question of the state’s responsibility to abide by its agreements with defendants,” Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in an opinion, which the four other justices agreed with. “We recognize that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people are dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believe it to be unfair. More unjust than the resolution of any single criminal case would be the judgment of this court that states are not obliged to abide by agreements on which their citizens have depended to their detriment.
Webb said his office disagrees with the court’s reasoning, noting that the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision does not dispute the fact that Smollett orchestrated the hate crime hoax. “Most importantly, Jussie Smollett’s name will not be cleared. He is not innocent,” he said.
Smollett still faces challenges civil lawsuit The city of Chicago asked for more than $130,000 in police investigation costs. The case, which had been paused during the criminal trial and appeals process, is likely to be restarted now that a resolution has been reached regarding his criminal charges.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
