Illinois Supreme Court agrees to hear Smollett appeal
The Illinois Supreme Court has agree dt o hear an appeal from Jussie Smollett, the former “Empire” acto r wh ose convictio ns f or staging a hate crime caused fevered international media attention.
This means that the cas e , which has continue d as Smollett fights his convictions, will carry on a little l o nger.
Al ower appellate court affirme d his c onvictions for false lyr eporting a hate crime t oC hicago police in January 2019 eve nas Smollett alleged a laundry list o fvi olations in the case handle d by sp ecial prosecuto r Dan W ebb afte r the Cook County state’s attorney’s office controversially dr o pp e d all charges.
In a 2 - 1 de cisio n, the appeals court judges largely rejecte d th e arguments, though Judg eF reddrenna Lyle dissented, arguing that “Smollett gave ups omething of value ,c ommunity service and bo nd f orfeiture, in exchange fo ran oll eo fthe whole indictment.”
Aft e r th e d e cisi o n, Sm o llett aske dth e state’s high court to hear the case ,a decisio n up t o the discretion o f th e judges. In asking the court to review his case, Smollett had argued that the lowe rc ourt’s opinion “threate ns t o upend all informal and formal deferre dpr osecution agreements.”
The case stems fro ma report Smollett made to police in th ee arly hours of Jan .29 , 2019 ,wh e nh e said two men attacked him in the Loop, hitting him, yelling homophobic slurs and placingan oose around his neck. But in a twist that dre w fr enzied international attention,
prosecutors charge dSm ollett the following month with disorderly conduct for brncocting cooth ers Abimbola the hoax with and Olabinj oO sundairo , who
testified that he paid them to perpetrate the attack.
Abo ut a m onth afte r prosecutors charge dSm ollett, the ydr oppe dallc ounts against him noting that he forfeited his $10,000 bond and had done community service inam ove that drew sharp criticism. State’s Attorney Kim Foxx pr e viously hande dth e case t o deputies, saying she had recuse dh erself.
Former Cook County Judg eM ichae lT oomin appointe dW e bb,af ormer U.S. attorney, as special prosecutor amid scrutiny around the decision, finding that Foxx did no tg o through the formal proce ssf o rr ecusing herself fro m th e case. Webb late rr efile d th e charges.
In his appeal, Smollett argued that Cook County prosecutors dropping the case resolved it, similar toa deferre dpr osecution agreement, particularly because h e f o rf e it e d his bail.
Attorne ysf o rth e state, though, among other arguments, contended that prosecutors who drop charges are no t pr eclude dfr o mr efiling charge sinth e same case.
In the majority opinion delivere dby Judge David Navarro and concurred with by Judg eM ary Ellen Coghlan, the judge swr ote that Smollett “challenges virtually every aspect o fthe second prosecution that resulte dinhisc onvictions and sentence.”
“The reco rd d oe sn ot establish that Smollett entered into an onprosecution agreement with the (Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office), in which th e(o ffice) agree dt o forgo furthe rpr osecution of him in exchange fo rhisp erformanc eo fc ommunity service and the forfeitur e of his bond,” th eo pinio nr eads.
A Cook County judge had sentenced Sm ll tt to 150
o$1e days in jail, 3 0 months of probation and 3 0 , 160 in restitution, but his sentence is o nh old while the appeal process plays out.