Actor Jussie Smollett is appealing his 2021 disorderly conduct conviction, and the Illinois Supreme Court will hear his case.
According to the Associated Press, the high court has accepted Smollett’s appeal. No date has yet been set for the Illinois Supreme Court to hear Jussie’s appeal, the outlet said.
Smollett filed a petition on February 5 asking the Illinois Superior Court to intervene in the ongoing legal battle. The “Empire” actor’s staged hate crime conviction was upheld in December.
Jussie Smollett’s appeal will be heard by the Illinois Supreme Court. (Nuccio DiNuzzo)
A jury earlier found Smollett guilty on five of six counts of disorderly conduct after a nearly two-week trial in 2021. Mr. Smollett, who is black and gay, reported the victim to Chicago police. racist and homophobic attacks In January 2019, by two men wearing ski masks.
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Smollett was convicted If convicted, he will be sentenced to 150 days in prison. The actor was also sentenced to 30 months of probation as a felon, paid $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago, and was fined $25,000.
This booking photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office shows Jussie Smollett. On Thursday, March 10, 2022, a judge sentenced Jussie Smollett to 150 days in prison. (Cook County Sheriff’s Office, via AP)
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Actors of “Empire” He wants the conviction overturned.
“What should have been a simple case has been complicated by a mix of politics and public outrage,” Smollett’s lawyers said in a February court filing.
Jassy continued to maintain his innocence throughout the trial, conviction, and appeal. (Amy Sussman)
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They reiterated their argument in an earlier appeal that the 2021 trial violated the Fifth Amendment’s protection against double jeopardy, or being punished twice for the same crime.
They said he had already done community service and forfeited his $10,000 bail as part of a 2019 agreement with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to drop the original 16 disorderly conduct charges. said.
In December 2021, Jussie Smollett was seen leaving the Layton Criminal Courthouse with his unidentified brother following the verdict of his case in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Hua)
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Mr. Smollett’s lawyers argue that the state violated the Noll pro se agreement by re-indicting Mr. Smollett on trumped-up hate crime charges.
Under the agreement, Smollett could perform community service and forfeit his bail, and was told the case would be dismissed as well as deferred prosecution. Instead, a grand jury reinstated his charges in 2020, and he was later convicted.
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
