Jussie Smollett‘s conviction for falsely reporting a hate crime has been overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court.
In March 2021, the former Empire actor was sentenced to 150 days in prison and 30 months felony probation for falsely reporting that he’d been a victim of a homophobic and racist hate crime in 2019.
Smollett was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct pertaining to a police report he filed on January 29, 2019 – the same day the alleged attack took place.
The actor was also ordered to pay $120,106 (£91,753) in restitution, as well as a $25,000 (£19,137) fine.
This came after the original charges against him were dropped in March 2019. The case was picked back up when the Cook County state’s attorney asked the state to conduct an independent inquiry with a special prosecutor.
In December 2023, Smollett’s bid for an appeal was rejected and it was ruled that he would have to complete his full sentence, six days of which he served before being freed pending appeal. However, earlier this year, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal.
Jussie Smollett appears in court, March 2022. CREDIT: Getty Images
This Thursday (November 21), the Illinois Supreme Court found that the special prosecutor’s decision to retry Smollett violated his rights.
“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 reads. “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.”
In a statement to press after the conviction was overturned, special prosecutor Webb said (via Variety): “Make no mistake — today’s ruling has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence. The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any error with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that Mr. Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime and reported it to the Chicago Police Department as a real hate crime, or the jury’s unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct. In fact, Mr. Smollett did not even challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him in his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.”
After receiving his sentence in March 22, Smollett said: “I am innocent. I could have said I am guilty a long time ago.
“If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBT community. But I did not do this.”
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