We have some shocking news for celebrity gossip followers.
On Thursday afternoon, The Supreme Court of Illinois overturned the convictions of Jussie Smollett… the veteran actor who was previously found guilty of falsely reporting a hate crime following a VERY high-profile 2019 incident.
At the time of this alleged crime, Smollett was a main cast member on the Fox drama Empire.
Over four years ago, he claimed to be the victim of a homophobic and racist assault, but was found guilty in December 2021 of deceiving the authorities.
He was convicted on five counts of misleading the police and filing a false report regarding the incident.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Smollett paid two men to stage a fake attack on him to gain sympathetic media coverage. Smollett, who is Black and gay, insisted that he was verbally and physically assaulted by the men, who also put a noose around his neck.
Smollett contested almost every aspect of his case, arguing that his legal issues should have been resolved after a controversial deal to drop charges shortly after his indictment in February 2019.
According to the state’s highest court, the deal should have prevented Smollett from facing charges for the same crime a year later by a special prosecutor appointed by the court.
In a 5-0 decision, with two justices abstaining, Justice Elizabeth M. Rocheford stated that the second case violated Smollett’s due process rights because he had fulfilled the terms of his earlier plea agreement by surrendering his $10,000 bond and completing community service.
“We understand that this case has sparked significant public interest, and many people were unhappy with the original decision and felt it was unfair,” Rocheford wrote in the 32-page ruling.
“However, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a ruling from this court that the State was not obligated to uphold agreements on which people have detrimentally relied.”
Special prosecutor Dan Webb expressed disappointment with the court’s ruling in a subsequent statement.
“Let me be clear — today’s decision has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence,” Webb stated.
“The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any errors in the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that Mr. Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime and reported it to the Chicago Police Department as a genuine hate crime, or the jury’s unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct.”
Smollett spent six days in jail out of a five-month sentence in 2022, before being released to await the outcome of his appeals.
