The Illinois Supreme Court overturned Jussie Smollett's felony conviction Thursday on a technicality.
Smollett, who was convicted in December 2021 of orchestrating a hate crime hoax, lied about a fake attack in downtown Chicago, in which he claimed two men in Make America Great Again hats assaulted him, hurled homophobic and racist slurs, and placed a noose around his neck. An extensive police investigation revealed that Smollett paid a pair of Nigerian brothers to help him stage the assault.
Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx's office initially dropped 16 disorderly conduct charges against Smollett, then a special prosecutor took over the case and requested a new inquiry. Smollett was ultimately found guilty on five felony counts and sentenced to 150 days in county jail.
Now, years later, the state's Supreme Court found that the special prosecutor's decision to retry Smollett violated his rights.
People v. Jussie Smollett o... by Sean Gubitosi
"Today we resolve a question about the State's responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants," the court wrote in a 32-page opinion reversing Smollett's guilty verdict. "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."
The court noted "the consequences of failing to enforce prosecutorial promises when a defendant has relied on them to his detriment."
In other words, the court ruled, the special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the criminal charges were originally dropped against Smollett in exchange for him forfeiting his $10,000 bond and conducting community service.
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"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," the filing says. "Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of anyone criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied."
Thus, the court reversed the judgment of the appellate court, which had upheld Smollett's conviction, and directed the circuit court to enter a judgment of dismissal. The appeals court previously ruled that Smollett was never promised he wouldn't face a fresh prosecution after accepting the original non-prosecution agreement.
Justice Elizabeth Rochford penned the 5-0 decision.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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