On Friday, an Illinois appeals court rejected Jussie Smollett's appeal of his hate crime hoax conviction, with the three judge-judge panel voting 2-1 against the disgraced actor.
According to a report from TMZ, "The key to Jussie's appeal is the argument he could not be prosecuted because after the initial indictment, Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx decided not to prosecute the case. That drew enormous criticism, and a special prosecutor was appointed who ultimately went to the grand jury that indicted him again."
The two judges who upheld Smollett's conviction argued that Foxx's choice not to proceed with the case did not mean an absolute agreement to never charge him again, while the dissenting judge argued that Foxx's controversial decision not to prosecute was some sort of ironclad legal agreement absolving him from prosecution.
In January 2019, Jussie Smollett, a homosexual black actor whose career was on the decline, faked being a victim of a hate crime. Smollett enlisted the help of two brothers, who donned red hats and staged an assault on him in the middle of the night, complete with racial slurs and the chant, “This is MAGA country!”
Smollett’s story was absurd, and while many in Hollywood and on the political left rushed to condemn the “attack,” law enforcement spotted the ruse quickly, and he was arrested.
Smollett was convicted in March 2022, sentenced to 150 days in jail, and ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and a $25,000 fine. Following his conviction, Smollett spoke to the court in a bizarre rant.
“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 LGBTQ community,” Smollett said. “Your Honor, I respect you, and I respect the jury, but I did not do this, and I am not suicidal. If anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.”
Despite the conviction, Smollett’s attorneys succeeded in getting him released on bond by arguing that he would have completed his sentence by the time the appeals process was complete and suggesting that he could be at risk of danger or physical harm while at Cook County Jail. His failed appeal means he will likely have to serve the rest of his 150-day sentence. Smollett’s legal team may still appeal the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court, and it appears that it will.
"We wish to highlight that the decision was divided, with Justice Lyle offering a detailed analysis in favor of Smollett. We are preparing to escalate this matter to the Supreme Court, armed with a substantial body of evidence," a member of Smollett's team told TMZ.
Smollett has long maintained his innocence, but the evidence against him was overwhelming. Even Don Lemon, formerly of CNN, publicly condemned Smollett. According to Lemon, Smollett “had to make up too many lies as to why he didn’t want to do certain things. To cover. Like another lie and [...] I guess he got caught up in that because he took the stand himself. He got angry with the prosecutor as the prosecutor poked holes in his story, calling the only other witnesses liars.”
Lemon added that Smollett potentially made it harder for “legitimate victims of hate crimes” to be taken seriously.
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