former empire Star Jussie Smollett is appealing his conviction all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.
The state’s high court has agreed to hear the appeal of Smollett, who was convicted in 2019 of staging a hate crime to gain media attention, the paper said. chicago tribune.
A lower appellate court had already upheld his conviction for reporting a hate crime.
Smollett asked the high court to reconsider the case, arguing that the lower court’s decision “threatens to overturn all informal and formal deferred prosecution agreements.”
But the state Supreme Court disagreed. In a 2-1 decision, the Court of Appeals rejected Mr. Smollett’s argument that his conviction was unfair.
The only dissenter was Judge Fredrenna Lyle, who argued that “Smollett gave up valuable community service and forfeiture of bail in exchange for the full amount of the indictment.”
After his conviction, Smollett was fined $130,160 and sentenced to 150 days in jail, but he served only six days before his appeal went through the courts and he was released.
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The actor initially had all charges dismissed by Cook County Prosecutor Kim Foxx, who was funded by George Soros. However, a special prosecutor was quickly called in to investigate the incident.
Soon after, he was convicted of filing a false police report and falsely reporting that he was the victim of a hate crime.
The high court majority also noted that Mr. Smollett had already received clemency from the court.
Justices David Navarro and Mary Ellen Coghlan wrote for the majority that Mr. Smollett “disputes virtually every aspect of the second indictment that led to his conviction and sentence.”
“The record does not prove that Mr. Smollett entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the (Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office) in which the (bureau) agreed to perform his community service and forfeit his bail in exchange for him performing community service and forfeiting his bail. “I have agreed to refrain from further prosecution,” the judge added.
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