Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of making false reports to the police.
Posted on by Randy Slovacek

Jussie Smollett’s Hate Crime Hoax Conviction Overturned

The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned “Empire“ actor Jussie Smollett’s felony conviction from 2021 that centered on his falsely reporting he was the victim of a 2019 hate crime You’ll recall the actor, who is Black and gay, claimed his attackers yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him before putting a noose around his neck on a Chicago street. Prior to his 2021 conviction, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the initial 16 charges brought against him in 2019 after Smollett agreed to perform community service and pay a $10K fine, which he did. However, after that deal, a special prosecutor got involved on behalf of the state due to massive public pressure.

The court cited Smollett’s second prosecution after those charges were dropped as the main reason why his conviction was overturned. From the ruling:

“Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain.

“We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.”

A jury eventually convicted Smollett of five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine along with $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago. Testimony at his trial revealed he’d paid two brothers he knew from the set of “Empire” $3,500 to carry out the staged “attack.”

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