ACTOR Jussie Smollett’s conviction for orchestrating a fake hate crime has been overturned.
The Illinois Supreme Court handed down the ruling siding with the Empire actor’s appeal that he should never have been convicted in 2021 after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors during his original case in 2019.
“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” a statement from the Illinois’ higher court on Thursday read.
“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.”
On January 29, 2019, Smollett reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime when he was attacked outside his apartment building.
The actor, 42, claimed that two men physically assaulted him and used racial and homophobic slurs.
Smollett alleged in the police report that the men left a noose around his head before shouting, “This is MAGA country.”
However, a police investigation determined Smollett paid the two men, identified as brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, $3,500 to stage the assault in a bid to help him progress his career.
A grand jury indicted Smollett on felony counts of filing a false police report in February 2019.
However, a month later, prosecutors dropped all the charges against the actor after reaching a deal with Smollett’s defense team, requiring the defendant to forfeit his $10,000 bond and complete 16 hours of community service.
Nevertheless, questions about favoritism surrounding Smollett‘s deal with prosecutors arose, which led Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx to launch an independent inquiry by a special investigator in June 2019.
Smollett was eventually indicted on six counts of felony disorderly conduct about making false police reports and would go on trial in November 2021.
In December 2021, a jury convicted Smollett on five of the six counts, and he was sentenced to 30 months probation with the first 150 days to be served in jail.
Smollett spent only six days in jail after a court said he should be free while his conviction was appealed.
The Illinois Supreme Court cited Bill Cosby‘s case in Pennsylvania as one that also generated public interest.
Cosby was sentenced to three-to-10-years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting, drugging, and molesting a Temple University employee at his suburban estate in Elkins Park in January 2004.
The disgraced actor, who was once beloved as “America’s Dad,” served more than two years in prison before a Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s conviction, citing violations of his due process rights.
Despite his release, Cosby has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by over 50 other women.
“It cannot be gainsaid that society holds a strong interest in the prosecution of crimes,” the Illinois Supreme Court wrote about Cosby’s case.
“It is also true that no such interest, however important, ever can eclipse society’s interest in ensuring that the constitutional rights of the people are vindicated.
“Society’s interest in prosecution does not displace the remedy due to constitutionally aggrieved persons.”
