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The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned Jussie Smollett’s hate crime hoax conviction.
“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” the court wrote in documents obtained by Fox News Digital. “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. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.”
Smollett, who is Black and gay, reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks in January 2019.
Charges against Smollett were originally dropped. After special prosecutor Kim Foxx requested a new inquiry, the “Empire” star was convicted on five felony counts and later sentenced to 150 days in county jail. The Illinois Supreme Court decided Thursday that the special prosecutor’s decision to retry Smollett on charges violated his rights.
“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” Mark Geragos, Smollett’s lawyer, told Fox News Digital. “We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.”
“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,” another of Smollett’s attorneys, Nenye Uche, told Fox in a statement. “Ultimately, we are pleased that the rule of law was the big winner today. We are thankful to the Illinois Supreme Court for restoring order to Illinois’ criminal law jurisprudence.”
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani explained the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Smollett’s conviction.
“Jussie Smollett is Bill Cosby 2.0. Not because of what he did, but because of what the prosecutor did,” he told Fox News Digital. “Kim Foxx shockingly agreed to drop the charges against Smollett for staging a hate crime, lying about it, and costing Chicago PD countless hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
