Jussie Smollett Conviction Overturned

Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction for orchestrating a hate crime hoax has been reversed.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, Nov. 21 that Smollett’s original deal with Cook County prosecutors to drop the case against him in exchange for 15 hours of volunteer community service and the forfeit of his $10,000 bond had to be honored, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Smollett was originally convicted of five counts of disorderly conduct in December 2021 and sentenced to 150 days in jail after his 2019 arrest but was released after only six days served while he appealed his case.

The actor’s attorneys claimed that the trial had violated his Fifth Amendment rights against double jeopardy, however, as Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office agreed to drop the original charges against Smollett a month after his arrest.

A special prosecutor was subsequently appointed to investigate the deal and found, among other issues, that Foxx had improperly recused herself. Charges were eventually refiled against Smollett.

The Alien: Covenant star’s attorneys have long argued that the special prosecutor should have never been allowed to bring new charges against him in the first place. Attorneys for the state, however, contended that prosecutors who drop charges are not prevented from refiling charges in the same case.

Smollett’s appeal has wound its way through the court system for years, with a lower court previously affirming the convictions before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the actor’s appeal.

Thursday the Supreme Court ruled that Smollett’s case should be dismissed. “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 believed it to be unjust,” the court’s opinion said. “Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”

Smollett was accused of lying to police on Jan. 29, 2019, when he reported that two men had attacked him, beating him and yelling homophobic slurs at him before putting a noose around his neck. Brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo later testified that he paid them to perpetrate the attack, which Smollett has denied.