Illinois Supreme Court hears appeal from Jussie Smollett’s attorneys
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Attorneys for actor Jussie Smollett took his case to the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday in what may be a last-ditch effort to have his 2021 conviction overturned.
The former “Empire” actor was convicted of falsely reporting a 2019 hate crime against him. Smollett, who is Black and gay, alleged his attackers shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him before putting a noose around his neck on a Chicago street.
In 2021, he was found guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct for setting up the attack. Testimony at his trial indicated he paid two brothers, whom he knew from the set of the TV show, $3,500 to carry out the attack.
Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and ordered to pay more than $130,000 in restitution. So far, he has served six days of that sentence.
The Appellate Court of Illinois denied Smollett’s request to toss his conviction in December of last year.
On Tuesday, his attorneys argued he should have never faced the charges on which he was convicted because Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office dismissed the original charges in exchange for community service and Smollett forfeiting his $10,000 bond. Smollett did not appear with his attorneys at the hearing in Springfield.
Smollett’s attorney said the actor is the victim of a racist judicial system and the second trial, in which he was convicted, should have never happened because he had a deal with the state’s attorney.
“An agreement is an agreement,” attorney Nenye Uche said. “We have been saying this since day one and it shouldn’t be different just because of the defendant in the case.”
Special Prosecutor Sean Wieber didn’t dispute a deal was reached between Smollett and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office that dismissed the original charges in exchange for forfeiting his $10,000 bond and performing community service, but he argued that nothing in the agreement prohibited them from re-issuing the charges.
“The question is, is it a dismissal with prejudice that precludes potential of future indictment, and the answer is unequivocally no,” he said.
It’s unclear when the Illinois Supreme Court will issue a ruling. If the court rules against him, he has the option of appealing to the United States Supreme Court.
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