The Illinois Supreme Court will hear an appeal of actor Jussie Smollett’s disorderly conduct conviction for staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself in 2019 and then lying to Chicago police about it.
The court on Wednesday accepted the appeal of Smollett, former actor of the television series “Empire”. He will review a state appeals court ruling from December that upheld his 2021 conviction by a Cook County jury.
The case sparked an international outcry and resulted in an intensive manhunt by Chicago police detectives.
No date has been set for the High Court to hear arguments in the case.
A special prosecutor refiled charges against Smollett after Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the case and Smollett waived his $10,000 bond and performed court work. public interest, which, according to Smollett, ended the case.
In a 2-1 decision, the state’s First District Court of Appeal rejected those claims, saying no one promised Smollett that he wouldn’t face further prosecution after he agreed the initial agreement. Judge Freddrenna Lyle dissented, calling the refiled charges “fundamentally unfair.”
His lawyers argued that Smollett, who is black and gay, was the victim of a racist and politicized justice system.
Smollett was convicted of five counts of disorderly conduct for staging the attack in which he said two men assaulted him on a Chicago street. He claimed they hurled insults and took oaths about being in “MAGA country” — an apparent reference to former President Donald Trump’s rallying credo — before putting a noose around his neck. neck.
Testimony at his trial said Smollett paid two men he knew from “Empire,” filmed in Chicago, $3,500 to carry out the attack. But Smollett took the stand and told the jury, “There was no hoax.” »
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail – six of which he served before being released pending his appeal – 30 months of probation and ordered to pay $130,160 in restitution.
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Read the Associated Press’ complete coverage of the Jussie Smollett case.
NBC Chicago
