HUGE, Incredible Development in Jussie Smollett’s Case

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Photo: Paras Griffin (Getty Images)

Thursday, actor Jussie Smollett got the best news he’s gotten in a long time regarding his widely controversial hate crime hoax from 2019.

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The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday the “Empire” actor’s case would be overturned. Authorities say years ago, he contacted the police to report being attacked by two men from the “Empire” set who allegedly assaulted him while yelling homophobic and racist slurs. However, it was discovered during trial that Smollett recruited the alleged culprits, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, to stage the attack.

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Smollett was originally charged with staging a fake hate crime against himself. However, that case was dropped after it was found that Cook County prosecutor Kim Foxx mishandled things, per CBS News. After a special prosecutor was brought in to reinvestigate, Smollett faced a new indictment and was convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct and lying to the police for the scheme, per court documents.

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He was sentenced to 150 days in jail in 2021 but was released after six days as he sought an appeal, the report says. He sustained that the incident was a true act of hate and argued his case should be dropped due to double jeopardy.

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Now, it appears he may have won a victory.

“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants. 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,” read the decision from Justice Elizabeth Rochford.

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The court found special prosecutors violated Smollett’s constitutional rights in bringing a new indictment against him after his original charge was dropped and he agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond. His next day in court will be to hear the formal dismissal of the charges.