Jussie Smollett conviction in hate crime hoax overturned by Illinois Supreme Court
The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned actor Jussie Smollett's conviction for staging a fake hate crime against himself.
In a decision issued Thursday, the court said the "Empire" actor, 42, should not have been charged for the same incident a second time after the original charges brought against him were dropped in 2019. Smollett was alleged to have falsely reported to police that he was the victim of a hate crime. He was found guilty in 2021 on five counts of disorderly conduct.
"Because the initial charges were dismissed as part of an agreement" with Smollett and he "performed his part of the agreement, the second prosecution was barred," the ruling said.
"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. 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."
Smollett claimed in January 2019 that he was attacked in Chicago by two men who yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, tied a rope around his neck, and said, "This is MAGA country," a reference to then-President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
Smollett was later charged after police alleged he staged the attack on himself with the help of two brothers he hired, but the charges were dropped weeks later. At the time, Cook County State Attorney Kimberly Foxx's office said the actor agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond to the city of Chicago and perform community service.
The decision to drop the charges against Smollett sparked criticism, with then-outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel saying at the time: "This is a whitewash of justice." By August 2019, a special prosecutor was named to examine the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of charges.
The following year, a grand jury indicted Smollett on new charges "related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime, knowing that he was not the victim of a crime," said special prosecutor Dan Webb, who argued further prosecution was "in the interest of justice."
Smollett has maintained the hate crime was real and pushed for his conviction to be thrown out on the basis of double jeopardy. He argued he should not have been permitted to be charged again because the case was resolved in 2019 when he reached his agreement with the state.
"(Smollett) performed his end of the agreement and forfeited $10,000," Thursday's ruling stated. "If the previous proceeding is null and void, (he) could rightly wonder what happened to his $10,000."
After Smollett was convicted on the new charges, he was sentenced in 2022 to 150 days in jail. "You're just a charlatan pretending to be the victim of a hate crime, and that's shameful," Judge James Linn said during a sentencing hearing.
After the sentencing was read, Smollett proclaimed in court that he was "innocent" and "not suicidal," suggesting he could be killed in jail. He was ultimately released from jail after six days, pending his appeal.
In December, the Illinois Appellate Court upheld the conviction, arguing there was no evidence prosecutors agreed that Smollett "would not be further prosecuted in exchange for forfeiting his bond and performing community service."
Jussie Smollett attorney celebrates overturned conviction: 'The rule of law was the big winner today'
In a statement on Thursday, Nenye E. Uche, an attorney for Smollett, thanked the Illinois Supreme Court for "restoring order to Illinois' criminal law jurisprudence."
"This was not a prosecution based on facts, rather it was a vindictive persecution and such a proceeding has no place in our criminal justice system," Uche said. "Ultimately, we are pleased that the rule of law was the big winner today."
Attorney Foxx, whose office reached the original deal to drop charges against Smollett, said she was not surprised by the Supreme Court's decision, calling the second investigation of Smollett "illegitimate." She added that the actor's case was a non-violent offense and was dealt with in "the same way we handle thousands of cases similarly."
Meanwhile, Webb expressed disappointment in the ruling and said he "respectfully" disagrees with the court's conclusion.
"Make no mistake – today's ruling has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett's innocence," Webb said. "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."
(This story has been updated with additional information.)
Contributing: Charles Trepany, Paste BN; Eric Cox and Brad Brooks, Reuters