Jusie Smollett’s conviction for allegedly lying about being the victim of a hate crime in 2019 was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday, citing a violation of the actor’s due process rights by the prosecution. The decision reversed both the Illinois appellate court’s decision upholding the 42-year-old Empire actor’s trial court conviction on five counts of disorderly conduct.
The state s high court reasoned that because prosecutors in the Cook County State s Attorney s Office agreed to drop the charges against Smollett as part of a negotiated deal with his defense attorneys, the office could not bring the same charges against him a second time.
In a 32-page decision, Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford stated, “Today we resolve a question regarding the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants.” We specifically discuss whether the State may pursue a second prosecution after a case is dismissed by nolle prosequi if the dismissal was made as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has fulfilled his end of the deal. We reverse the defendant’s conviction because we believe that a second prosecution in these circumstances violates due process.
Abel Osundairo and Ola Osundairo, two brothers who subsequently claimed that Smollett gave them a $3,500 check to assault him as part of the plot, were accused of helping Smollett stage the 2019 fake attack.
In a contentious move, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the actor’s initial felony charge in exchange for community service and the forfeiture of his $10,000 bond. After an independent inquiry, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, who was later named special counsel, chose to charge Smollett.
Smollett was given a sentence of 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and a $130,000 fine after being found guilty on five of six disorderly conduct charges for allegedly lying to police. As Smollett’s appeal progressed, the punishment was later stayed.
The Illinois court’s decision twice cited the Pennsylvania sex crime case of Bill Cosby, where the court reversed the former American icon’s conviction for sexual assault after he struck a bargain with prosecutors that said he would not face charges related to specific assault claims.
The state’s renegation on a fully written agreement after Smollett had relied on it to forfeit $10,000 was deemed by the court to be arbitrary, irrational, fundamentally unjust, and a breach of the defendant’s right to due process. The court went on to cite the Cosby decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which concluded that a defendant’s right to due process is at least compromised when he or she depends on the actions of a prosecutor.
After noting that the Smollett case had generated significant public interest and left many dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case, the ruling s conclusion returned to the Cosby decision again.
Special prosecutor Dan Webb released thefollowing statementto Chicago ABC affiliate WLS:
We are disappointed in the Illinois Supreme Court s decision today to overturn Jussie Smollett s convictions and sentence, including the award of over $120,000 in restitution to the City of Chicago for its overtime expenses in investigating Mr. Smollett s fake hate crime, Webb wrote. We respectfully disagree with the Court s factual and legal reasoning which upends long-standing Illinois precedent.
He also reiterated that the supreme court s ruling had nothing to do with Mr. Smollett s innocence.
The jury unanimously found Mr. Smollett guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct, and the Illinois Supreme Court found no fault with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that he planned a fictitious hate crime and reported it to the Chicago Police Department as a real hate crime. In fact, Mr. Smollett did not even challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him in his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, he said. Today s ruling does not change how deeply proud I am of the work my Special Prosecutor s office accomplished; nor does it undermine the jury s verdict, and most importantly, it does not clear Jussie Smollett s name he is not innocent.
This is a developing story.
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