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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an actor accused of committing a racist and homophobic attack on himself and lying to police in downtown Chicago in 2019 Jussie Smollett’s conviction has been vacated.
The state Supreme Court ruled that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state’s attorney initially dropped the charges against Smollett in exchange for forfeiture of $10,000 bail and community service. handed down the verdict. The verdict and appeal do not address Mr. Smollett’s continued claims of innocence.
Mr. Smollett, who is black and gay, claims he was assaulted by two men, spewed racist and homophobic slurs at him, and had a noose placed around his neck, leading to a major suspect arrest by Chicago police detectives. A search was conducted, causing an international uproar. Smollett starred in the Chicago-based TV drama “Empire,” and prosecutors said he staged the attack because he was unhappy with the studio’s response to hate mail he received.
In a 5-0 decision, Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote: “This case aroused great public interest, and many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unfair.” I am aware of it,” he said. “Nevertheless, perhaps more unjust than the resolution of any single criminal case is this court’s holding that states are not obliged to abide by agreements on which their citizens have relied to their detriment.”
Smollett’s lawyers argue the case was over when Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office dropped the original 16 charges of breach of peace. A grand jury reinstated the indictment after a special prosecutor took over the case. A jury convicted Smollett on five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021.
Emails seeking comment were sent Thursday to Mr. Foxx’s office and Mr. Smollett’s attorney, who argued that Mr. Smollett is the victim of a racist and politicized judicial system.
According to testimony at trial, Smollett paid two men he knew from his Empire days $3,500 to carry out the attack. Prosecutors instructed Smollett to use slurs to shout that he was in “MAGA country” and to yell that he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan. He said he did.
“I didn’t make it up,” Smollett testified, saying he was the victim of a hate crime in Chicago’s downtown area.
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail (six of which must be served until released on appeal), 30 months of probation, and ordered to pay approximately $130,000 in restitution.
A state appeals court ruling upheld Mr. Smollett’s conviction and declared that no one promised him that he would not face new charges after accepting the original agreement.
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Tice and Justice Joy Cunningham were not involved in Thursday’s decision.
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Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.
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