Jussie Smollett, the disgraced actor, may be returning to prison soon after an appeals court affirmed his disorderly conduct convictions in connection with a 2019 hate crime hoax on Friday.
The 41-year-old “Empire” singer was convicted in 2021 of five felony charges of disorderly conduct after being accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying about it to Chicago police. The actor/singer was sentenced to 150 days in prison.
While the appeal was ongoing, he served only six days of his sentence.
Smollett contested the role of the special prosecutors, jury selection, evidence, and other aspects of the case against him, but the convictions were ultimately upheld by the Illinois Appeal Court in a 2-1 decision.
The California native, who made his feature film debut in 1992’s “The Mighty Ducks,” made news in 2019 after reporting to Chicago police that he had been the victim of a homophobic and racist attack by two individuals wearing ski masks.
The search for the perpetrators rapidly devolved into a probe into Smollett, who was arrested on charges that he paid two men he knew from “Empire” to help him stage the attack.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELSmollett’s lawyers alleged that he was the victim of a racist legal system and politicking.
Appellate Judge Freddrenna Lyle said on Friday that she would have overturned Smollett’s conviction because it was “fundamentally unfair” to appoint a special prosecutor and charge the actor after he had previously completed community service as part of a previous agreement with Cook County prosecutors.
“It was common sense that Smollett was bargaining for a complete resolution of the matter, not simply a temporary one,” she said.
However, special prosecutor Dan Webb told TMZ that the decision was “a resounding and profound victory.”
“Having a dissenting voice in the ruling is not uncommon. The decision by the appeals court is final,” he insisted.
“What happens next is Mr. Smollett can file a petition for a higher appeal to The Illinois Supreme Court,” Webb went on to say.
“This is purely discretionary meaning the court does not have to hear this appeal. He lost all legal rights to an appeal with today’s decision. If the Supreme Court decides to hear his appeal, there will be briefs filed and a hearing date set. If not, then the case goes back to the trial court, which will execute his sentence.”
Smollett’s attorneys have pledged to appeal the court’s ruling.
“We wish to highlight that the decision was divided, with Justice Lyle offering a detailed analysis in favor of Smollett,” a representative for Smollett told TMZ.
“We are preparing to escalate this matter to the Supreme Court,” Smollett spokesman Holly Baird said, referring to Illinois’ top court and mentioning that the appellate court’s decision was not unanimous. I wonder who the judges were that wanted to set him free. It would be interesting to know because they have no basis for being on a bench. Smollett was nailed by the evidence against him and by witnesses he paid to be involved in the hoax testifying against him.
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