Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s attorney claimed in his opening statement that his client was the victim of two “sophisticated” criminals — brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo — who did not like Smollett and were apparently endeavoring to set him up.
Smollett, who is charged with felony disorderly conduct — because he allegedly payed the brothers to stage a fake racist and homophobic hate crime — and filing a false report, claimed that he was attacked on a cold night in Chicago by two of former President Donald Trump’s supporters who put a rope around his neck and informed him, “This is MAGA country!”
“Smollett trial: in opening, Smollett’s attorney is telling jury that Smollett is a victim. The Osundairo brothers are ‘sophisticated’ criminals that did not like Jussie,” Fox News national reported Matt Finn tweeted.
Smollett trial: in opening, Smollett’s attorney is telling jury that Smollett is a victim. The Osundairo brothers are “sophisticated” criminals that did not like Jussie.
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) November 30, 2021
Smollett’s attorney argued that there was “an elephant in this room — assumptions.” Once he was finished speaking, Smollett walked across the room to where his mother was sitting and appeared to wipe a tear from his eye as he reached to hug her.
The prosecution’s opening statement was focused, Finn said, on driving home the allegation that Smollett had staged his own fake hate crime. “Smollett trial: prosecutor is repeatedly calling Smollett’s incident a ‘fake hate crime.’ Really using the word fake a lot in front of jury,” he tweeted.
Smollett trial: prosecutor is repeatedly calling Smollett’s incident a “fake hate crime.” Really using the word fake a lot in front of jury.
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) November 30, 2021
Finn also noted that the prosecution focused heavily on the fact that Smollett had initially refused to hand over his cell phone when investigators had asked for it, arguing that it was “almost unheard of” for victims of hate crimes to deny officials access to evidence — mainly because not having that evidence could prevent them from ever catching the perpetrator. According to the prosecutor, the obvious reason for Smollett’s refusal to hand over his phone was that he did not want investigators to see that he had contacted one of the Osundairo brothers.
According to former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani — who is not a part of Smollett’s case — the prosecution’s case is a good one.
“The prosecution is strong because of corroborating, independent evidence that is consistent with Smollett making a false police report,” Rahmani told Fox News. “What type of explanation can Smollett’s attorney have to justify him contacting the brothers?”
Fox News reported:
Rahmani admitted he “expects a guilty verdict” and thinks Smollett is “someone who doesn’t deserve any type of break.” In fact, the legal expert believes the trial only “brings more attention to Smollett’s misconduct” which the public was starting to forget about since the incident occurred before the pandemic.
Whether Smollett, who is Black and gay, testifies remains an open question. The brothers are expected to testify at trial and repeat what they told police in the past, that Smollett paid them to carry out the attack in order to raise his public profile.
Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney Silva Megerditchian told Fox News that even in the event of a conviction, she did not expect Smollett to serve prison time. “Smollett is facing 6 counts of essentially minor class 4 felonies that carry a maximum sentence of three years in State prison,” she said, adding, “The judge will consider that Smollett has no history of any arrests nor convictions — and thus will likely give him a probationary sentence. Keeping that in mind, however, this was a case that got national attention, and stirred a lot of anger that Smollett would stage this kind of grotesque racial attack. As well, the City of Chicago spent a lot of money investigating these false charges. Thus, I would not be surprised if the Judge imposes some kind of sentence, considering the nation is watching.”