We’ve got a shocker, celebrity gossip followers.
On Thursday afternoon, The Supreme Court of Illinois overturned the convictions of Jussie Smollett… the veteran actor who was previously found guilty of falsely reporting a hate crime following a VERY high-profile 2019 incident.
At the time this crime was allegedly committed, Smollett was a main cast member on the Fox drama Empire.
He claimed four-plus years ago that he was the victim of a homophobic and racist assault, but was found guilty in December 2021 of basically being a liar.
He was found guilty on five counts of misleading the police about the incident and of falsifying an official report.
At the time, prosecutors successfully argued in court that two men were given money by Smollett — who is Black and gay — to stage a fake attack in order to garner sympathetic media coverage.
Smollett told police after the incident that he was subjected to racist and homophobic slurs by two unknown individuals… who also poured bleach on him and wrapped a noose around his neck.
Smollett had challenged nearly every aspect of his case, previously allegeding that his legal woes should have been put to bed after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office struck a controversial deal to drop charges just a month after Smollett was indicted in February 2019.
The agreement should have prevented Smollett from being charged for the same crime by a court-appointed special prosecutor a year later, according to the state’s highest court this week.
In a 5-0 opinion, with two justices abstaining, Justice Elizabeth M. Rocheford wrote the second case violated Smollett’s due process rights because he had fulfilled the requirements of his earlier plea deal by turning over his $10,000 bond and doing community service.
“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,” Rocheford wrote in the 32-page ruling.
“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.”
Special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a subsequent statement that he is let down by the court’s decision.
“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.”
Smollett served six days of a five-month jail sentence in 2022, before being released to wait out his appeals.