Jussie Smollett is appealing his conviction for staging a racist and homophobic assault on himself and mendacity to Chicago police about it — almost a yr after he was sentenced to 5 months in jail.
The “Empire” alum, 40, is in search of a brand new trial, as he claims “prosecutorial misconduct” on this case was “clear and egregious,” in accordance with the 102-page doc filed Wednesday with the Illinois Appellate Court docket and obtained by The Put up.
A jury convicted Smollett in December 2021 of 5 counts of disorderly conduct. He had claimed that on a frigid early morning in January 2019, two males approached him at nighttime, yelled slurs at him, punched him, poured a chemical substance on him and hung a noose round his neck.
Chicago police accused Smollett of recruiting brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo to hold out the assault to spice up his burgeoning Hollywood profession.
Abimbola, an newbie boxer and occasional bit-part actor, testified in courtroom that Smollett, who’s black and homosexual, told him the specific words he wanted the brothers to use had been “Empire’, f—-t, n—-r, MAGA.”
On March 10, 2022, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail as he continued to proclaim his innocence. He spent six days behind bars — the place attorneys mentioned he didn’t eat and consumed solely ice water — earlier than being launched pending attraction.
In Wednesday’s temporary, Smollett’s attorneys argued his safety towards double jeopardy was violated. Prosecutors quietly said in 2019 they wouldn’t pursue the 16 counts of disorderly conduct towards him, as he had forfeited his $10,000 bail bond to the town of Chicago and carried out neighborhood service.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx got here beneath nationwide scrutiny for her function within the dealing with of the case. A choose appointed a particular prosecutor to evaluate her workplace’s choice, and new fees had been filed.
“Mr. Smollett’s negotiated bail bond forfeiture and efficiency of neighborhood service throughout his first prosecution constituted punishment and thus, his second prosecution and punishment for a similar offenses violated the Double Jeopardy Clause safety towards a number of punishments for a similar offense,” Smollett’s attorneys acknowledged of their temporary.
His attorneys additionally claimed there was “prosecutorial misconduct, together with allegations {that a} protection witness was pressured to vary his assertion.” And so they took subject with “biased” selections by the trial choose, saying his “closing remarks demonstrated that Mr. Smollett’s sentencing took on a private retributive tone.”
Wednesday’s appellate temporary comes about two weeks earlier than FOX Nation premieres its five-part docuseries, “Jussie Smollett: Anatomy of a Hoax,” on March 13. The streamer guarantees “unique interviews” with the Osundairo brothers and a “deep dive” into the incident that made worldwide headlines.
The Put up has contacted reps for Smollett for remark. He was written out of “Empire” earlier than the FOX TV sequence concluded in 2020. He has not acted since then, however did make his function directorial debut with “B-Boy Blues.”
