The drama continues with disgraced actor Jussie Smollett four years after he was convicted of faking a hate crime against himself for attention.
Earlier this week, Smollett appeared in an Illinois appellate court arguing that his 2019 conviction should be thrown out.
The 41-year-old's lawyers say that public anger and intrigue over the case caused charges to be reinstated that Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx previously dismissed. Smollett's legal team claims that the reintroduction of charges violates the Fifth Amendment and double jeopardy precedents, which prevent prosecutors from bringing the exact charges against a defendant twice.
The former "Empire" star was charged with 16 felony charges for orchestrating a hoax hate crime against himself. However, those charges were initially dropped. A new indictment and trial followed soon after. In the end, Smollett was convicted on five of six counts of disorderly conduct in 2021.
"Public outrage against the defendant cannot overrule the rule of law," Nenye Uche, one of Smollett's lawyers, said.
According to a report from USA Today, a ruling for the appeal will not be decided for several weeks. If the court fails to repeal his ruling, Smollett must complete the 150-day jail sentence given to him in 2022.
"If Mr. Smollett's convictions are allowed to stand, this case will set a dangerous precedent by giving prosecutors a second bite at the apple any time there is dissatisfaction with another prosecutor's exercise of discretion," the appeal reads.
Smollett insists the "attack" on him was real despite being found guilty.
"It's very interesting when someone lies on you over and over, and you know what is the lie... and you know what is the lie...but then you're forced to acknowledge the truths around the matter as well," the "actor," said during an interview last year on "Sway in the Morning."
In 2019, Smollett claimed he was attacked by two men who shouted, "This is MAGA country" while walking alone in the middle of a cold, snowy night in Chicago. He said the men dumped bleach on him before tying a "noose" around his neck, which he still wore when he spoke to investigators.
However, Smollett's story fell apart during court after his so-called "attackers," Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, testified that Smollett had paid them to fake attack him.