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Actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction in an alleged hate crime case in 2019 was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday. Read also: Illinois Supreme Court to hear appeal of actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction for racist attack
Decision
according to DiversityThe Empire actor was convicted in December 2021 of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly committing a hate crime against himself and was sentenced to 150 days in county jail the following year. In December 2023, his bid for appeal was rejected and it was ruled that he must serve his sentence, although he has not yet done so.
Now, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor’s conviction, saying the special prosecutor’s decision to re-trial him after the Cook County state’s attorney’s office previously dropped all charges against him violated his rights .
According to the court’s opinion, “We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and considered it unjust.” Chicago TribuneAdding, “Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be this Court’s finding that the State is not bound to honor agreements upon which the people have harmfully relied.”
The decision turns a new page in a closely watched case in Illinois in recent years. The court sent the case to the trial court to record the dismissal.
on the case
The actor was convicted by a jury in December 2021 on five of six counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police on January 29, 2019. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months’ probation, and $130,160 in restitution.
In January 2019, Jussi told police that he was attacked outside his Chicago apartment building and called racist and anti-gay slurs. Following the investigation, police alleged that Jussi had paid two acquaintances to carry out the attack and a grand jury indicted him on a Class 4 felony charge for filing a false police report.
In March, all charges were dropped after the state attorney reached an agreement with his defense team. However, following controversy over dropping the charges, prosecutor Kim Foxx asked the state of Illinois to conduct a separate investigation of the case with a special prosecutor, who re-indicted Smollett in February 2020. In November 2021, the trial against Smollett began and he was found guilty in December.
