Jussie Smollett Could Be Heading Back To Jail After Losing Appeal On 2019 Hate Crime Hoax

Dominic Patten
·3 min read
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Jussie Smollett could soon be back behind bars after an Illinois appeals court today backed the ex-Empire actor’s disorderly conduct convictions stemming from a faked hate crime and playing fast and loose with the truth with Chicago cops.

“We affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County,” said appellate Justices David Navarro and Mary Ellen Coghlan for the majority in a largely procedural based opinion released Friday.

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On March 10 last year, after multiple trips to court, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months’ probation over the staged early 2019 incident on the freezing Windy City streets. Proclaiming his innocence, Smollett was let out of the Cook County jail on March 16, 2022 after an Appellate Court granted a motion from his lawyers for a stay of the sentence pending appeal.

Now that appeal has failed with a 2-1 opinion.

Which means Smollett will likely go back to jail unless the Illinois Supreme Court grants the performer a new and successful appeal ASAP.

“We wish to highlight that the decision was divided, with Justice Lyle offering a detailed analysis in favor of Smollett,” a spokesperson for Smollett attorney Tina Glandian and the actors’ defense team told Deadline today.  “We are preparing to escalate this matter to the Supreme Court, armed with a substantial body of evidence.”

“Given the absence of a nonprosecution agreement with the CCSAO (the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office), reprosecuting Smollett was not fundamentally unfair,” the majority opinion states. “Because the charges against Smollett were nol-prossed before jeopardy had attached in the first criminal proceeding, the subsequent prosecution did not violate his right against double jeopardy.”

In her dissent, Appellate Judge Freddrenna Lyle said that it was “fundamentally unfair” that Dan Webb was appointed special prosecutor after Smollett had completed the community service that was a consequence of the controversial deal his lawyers previous made with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office to get charges dropped. “Rich or poor, famous or infamous—the State is called to prosecute everyone fairly and justly and not be swayed simply by public criticism,” wrote Justice Lyle today. “Unfortunately, this case shows that outcry from some members of the community and media pressure can lead to a dismantling of such an agreement between the State and a defendant.”

Convicted on December 9 2020 over the widely covered January 2019 so-called MAGA attack by thugs in ski masks (who later turned out to be personal trainers hired by the actor) Smollett’s sentence on  five felony convictions last year also included $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago for the overtime the police spent on his initial case and a further $25,000 fine.

At first attracting a wide swath of supporters (including Donald Trump) as news of the early morning attack circulated, Smollett soon found his story under scrutiny and falling apart.

The revelation from brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo that Smollett had paid them $3,500 by check and $100 in cash just before the attack TKO’d much of the support for the actor, who was best known for portraying middle son Jamal Lyon on the blockbuster Lee Daniels- and Danny Strong-created primetime soap Empire for five seasons. As his legal woes grew, Smollett was dropped from the Fox show’s sixth and final season.

In the past year, while awaiting the results of this unsuccessful appeal, Smollett has helmed the Vivica A. Fox starring flick The Lost Holiday and released new music. Lost Holiday is expected to come out next year. Last week, Smollett’s feature directorial debut B-Boy Blues,  based on James Earl Hardy’s 1994 novel, opened in NYC.

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