Actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago in 2019.
AP/March 26, 2019
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lied to police.
Smollett’s appeal argued that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state’s attorney initially dropped charges. The state’s highest court heard arguments in September.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed two men assaulted him, spouted racial and homophobic slurs and tossed a noose around his neck, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police detectives and kicking up an international uproar. Smollett was on the television drama “Empire,” which filmed in Chicago, and prosecutors alleged he staged the attack because he was unhappy with the studio’s response to hate mail he received.
A jury convicted him of five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021. Smollett has maintained his innocence.
His attorneys have argued that the case was over when the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dropped an initial 16 counts of disorderly conduct after Smollett performed community service and forfeited a $10,000 bond.
A grand jury restored charges after a special prosecutor took the case.
Testimony at his trial indicated Smollett paid $3,500 to two men whom he knew from “Empire” to carry out the attack. Prosecutors said he told them what slurs to shout, and to yell that Smollett was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.
Smollett testified that “there was no hoax” and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail — six of which he served before he was freed pending appeal — 30 months of probation and ordered to pay about $130,000 in restitution.
A state appellate court ruling upheld Smollett’s the conviction, declaring that no one promised Smollett he wouldn’t face a fresh prosecution after accepting the original deal.
His attorneys have argued that Smollett has been victimized by a racist and politicized justice system.