Jussie Smollett's trial

[jon-nyc]

I posted about this about a week ago. I was surprised how little attention it got.

[taiwan_girl]

@George-K Did someone post something after you did?

@jon-nyc Just tease you. :couple_with_heart:

[George K]

Free Jussie!

The Illinois Supreme Court has thrown out former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction for lying about a 2019 hate crime.

Smollett was found guilty in 2021 for faking a racist and homophobic attack and lying to the police. His lawyers said this violated his Fifth Amendment rights because, in 2019, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx had already agreed to drop the charges if Smollett paid $10,000 and did community service. A special prosecutor later charged him again, leading to his trial and conviction.

In its decision, filed on Thursday, the court stated they are resolving a "question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants."

The court stated it did not find that the state could bring a second prosecution against Smollett after the initial charges were dismissed as part of an agreement and the actor performed the terms of the agreement, noting that Illinois case law establishes that it is "fundamentally unfair to allow the prosecution to renege on a deal with a defendant when the defendant has relied on the agreement to his detriment."

"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. 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," it said.

[Mik]

Did he pay 10K and do the community service or is it just the court that has to honor the agreement?

[jon-nyc]

Makes sense. Who's going to accept a deal if the next prosecutor could renege?

[Mik]

Yes, it does.

[jon-nyc]

Doesn't stop me from being pissed about the original deal he was cut.

[jon-nyc]

“I am innocent in the eyes of god”

[Doctor Phibes]

@jon-nyc said in Jussie Smollett's trial:

“I am innocent in the eyes of god”

I have something in common with him, then.

If the Almighty hadn't wantws us to experience the love that dare not bleat its name, he wouldn't have made them quite so beautiful.

[Horace]

If he descends into complete irrelevance, a confession might still be in the cards. That note reads like he still has a career, and maybe he does.