The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned Jussie Smollett’s conviction for fabricating a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago. The court ruled that Smollett’s Fifth Amendment rights were violated when a special prosecutor decided to try him after initial charges were dropped.
This unexpected decision nullifies the “Empire” actor’s previous conviction, as reported by the New York Post. His lead attorney, Nenye Uche, denounced the initial prosecution as a “travesty of justice.”
In January 2019, Smollett, a 42-year-old black and gay actor, claimed that two men in Make America Great Again hats attacked him, shouting “this is MAGA country.” Smollett claimed that two men yelled homophobic and racial slurs, put a noose around his neck, and doused him with bleach, prompting a costly search by Chicago police that exceeded $130,000.
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However, investigators soon discovered that Smollett had orchestrated the attack, hiring brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo to stage the incident in an attempt to boost his profile and enhance his tough-guy image.
Police revealed that Smollett admitted to staging the hoax because he was dissatisfied with his $100,000-per-episode salary on “Empire.”
Despite his arrest and subsequent firing, Smollett has never publicly admitted to lying and continues to proclaim his innocence.
The incident received widespread national attention, with many high-profile liberal celebrities and politicians initially expressing support in now-deleted tweets.
The Empire actor was eventually convicted on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police about the fabricated attack.
In March 2022, Smollett was sentenced to five months in jail for orchestrating a fake hate crime, which the judge labeled a “disgraceful” scheme. He was also given 30 months probation, fined $25,000, and ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago.
“You’re not the victim of a racist hate crime, you’re not the victim of a homophobic hate crime, you’re just a charlatan pretending to be the victim of a hate crime and that’s shameful especially,” Judge James Linn said before handing down the sentence.
Smollett however served only five days of his sentence before being released pending an appeal, and has remained free since.
The Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his conviction is based on Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s earlier choice to drop the 16 felony charges against him. This agreement allowed Smollett to avoid admitting any wrongdoing in exchange for 16 hours of community service and forfeiting his $10,000 bail.
The decision to drop charges against Jussie Smollett angered Chicago police, who called for State’s Attorney Foxx’s resignation.
Then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel condemned the prosecutors’ actions as a “whitewash of justice.” Foxx recused herself from the case after it was revealed she had communicated with Smollett’s sister and a former aide to Michelle Obama before dropping the charges.
A special prosecutor was appointed to investigate Foxx’s actions, leading to a grand jury indicting Smollett on new charges in February 2020. These charges have now been dismissed by the Illinois Supreme Court.
After the unexpected reversal, Smollett’s lawyer, Uche, told reporters that Smollett was only tried and convicted because of his fame.
“If this was the regular Joe down the street, this case would never even have gone to trial. No prosecutor would have taken this case to trial. It was ridiculous. There was no direct evidence linking him to anything.”
The lawyer’s characterization was swiftly challenged by special prosecutor Dan Webb, who took over the hate crime hoax case after Foxx recused herself.
“Make no mistake: Today’s ruling has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence,” he said in a statement.
“The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any error with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial … or the jury’s unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct,” he continued.
“In fact, Mr. Smollett did not even challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him in his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.”
Justice Elizabeth Rochford delivered the judgment of the court, writing in her opinion that it “defies credulity” that Smollett “would agree to forfeit $10,000 with the understanding that [Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office] could simply re-indict him the following day.”
The Illinois Supreme Court, composed of five Democrats and two Republicans, issued a 5-0 decision in favor of Smollett.
Three Democrats and both Republicans on the bench ruled for Smollett. Illinois State Supreme Court justices are elected by voters for ten-year terms, or appointed by the court in the case of mid-term vacancies.
