The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the conviction of disgraced actor Jussie Smollett who was found guilty of filing a false police report in 2019 after claiming he was the victim of a hate crime.
The court overturned the ruling because it said he was unjustly prosecuted a second time after he was given a sweetheart deal by George Soros-backed Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx that resolved the matter as part of a negotiated settlement.
“We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction,” Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford wrote in the opinion.
A lawyer for Smollett said in a statement: “We are thankful to the Illinois Supreme Court for restoring order to Illinois’ criminal law jurisprudence.”
In January 2019, Smollett claimed he was walking alone at night in Chicago during a polar vortex when two supporters of President Donald Trump — allegedly carrying rope and bleach — recognized him from his role on “Empire” and brutally attacked him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs.
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Smollett returned to a friend’s home and called the police, still wearing the noose that he said was placed around his neck by his purported attackers.
It was later reported that Smollett hired two Nigerian brothers he had previously worked with to stage the attack to raise his profile and hopefully get him a raise on “Empire” and further his acting career. The brothers alleged that Smollett paid them to buy plain red hats that he later claimed were “Make American Great Again” (MAGA) hats, signaling the attackers’ support of Trump.
In September 2020, Smollett insisted he was “set up” and continued to claim that he was attacked by two white men wearing MAGA hats. The brothers who said they were paid to stage the attack are black. The Daily Wire reported at the time that Smollett suddenly started claiming he had two witnesses who could prove he did not fake the attack.
After Chicago police investigated Smollett’s original claims for two weeks, they suspected he had staged the attack. Smollett was charged with 16 counts of lying to police, but those charges were dropped as part of the plea deal he was given by Foxx.
Ashe Schow contributed to this report.