Illinois Supreme Court overturns Jussie Smollett’s conviction

We posted about Jussie Smollett here a few times, the latest being in 2022. Although it looked like Smollett was going to get away with this hoax, he ultimately was tried and convicted. However, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned this conviction. They argued that a dismissal of the case was part of an agreement that the state entered into with the defendant, with the understanding that a follow on prosecution would not happen. Illinois’ high court argued that the second prosecution was a due process violation. This required the reversal of the conviction.

From Fox News:

“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” the court wrote in documents obtained by Fox News Digital. “Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.”

Smollett, who is Black and gay, reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks in January 2019.

Charges against Smollett were originally dropped. After special prosecutor Kim Foxx requested a new inquiry, the “Empire” star was convicted on five felony counts and later sentenced to 150 days in county jail. The Illinois Supreme Court decided Thursday that the special prosecutor’s decision to retry Smollett on charges violated his rights.

“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” Mark Geragos, Smollett’s lawyer, told Fox News Digital. “We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.”

Smollett filed a petition on Feb. 5, requesting the Illinois high court intervene in his ongoing legal drama. The actor’s conviction for a staged hate crime was upheld in December.

“What should have been a straightforward case has been complicated by the intersection of politics and public outrage,” Smollett’s attorneys wrote in the February petition.

Additional Reading:

Overhultz, L. (2024, November 21). Jussie Smollett conviction overturned by Illinois Supreme Court. Fox News. Link.

Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime