The disgraced former Empire star Jussie Smollett got some shockingly good news on Thursday when the Illinois Supreme Court overturned his conviction for lying to the police.
Illinois Supreme Court Ruling On Smollett
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Smollett had his rights violated. They ruled that this happened when a special prosecutor retried Smollett after the initial charges against him were dropped.
“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” the court ruled in documents obtained by Fox News.
“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,” the ruling continued. “We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.”
“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,” Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the 5-0 decision. “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.”
Regardless of what one thinks of Jussie Smollett, the judge makes a very strong point about our judicial system and the rights of the accused.
Related: Jussie Smollett Maintains His Innocence With New Song ‘Thank You God’
Smollett’s History
In December of 2021, Smollett was convicted of lying to police after allegedly staging a hate crime against himself. He had claimed two years before that he had been jumped by two white men. Smollett alleged that his attackers hurled racial and homophobic slurs against him before putting a noose around his neck.
Police, however, later concluded that Smollett had hired two black men to attack him. The men claimed that Smollett wanted to garner publicity so that he could get a higher salary on Empire.
Afterwards, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months’ probation. He was also hit with a $130,160 fine. Smollett only served a few days of his sentence, however, before he was released as he appealed his ruling.
“What should have been a straightforward case has been complicated by the intersection of politics and public outrage,” Smollett’s attorneys argued in a February petition.
Smollett’s legal team was quick to celebrate the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision today.
“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” said Smollett’s lawyer Mark Geragos.
Find out more about this in the video below.
Related: Hollywood Stars Who Supported Jussie Smollett Silent After He’s Found Guilty
Smollett Still Claims He Told The Truth
Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, Smollett still claims to this day that the hate crime really happened.
“I want to have all of these things in my life, and I don’t want to have a felony on my record for something that I didn’t do,” Smollett said last month. “That’s what we’re fighting for.”
“I know that on the surface it probably seems like why doesn’t he just serve the time, why doesn’t he just let this go,” he continued. “It would be easier if I had in fact done this to say that I did it. I wouldn’t have spent almost $3 million of my own money. I wouldn’t have had a trial.”
Many feel that Smollett attempted to play off America’s racial and political divisions for his own personal gain. These people will certainly be disgusted by today’s ruling in Smollett’s favor.
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