The Illinois Supreme Court rejected actor Jussie Smollett’s request to throw out new charges filed against him for allegedly lying to police about a hate crime.
An indictment unveiled last month charged the former Empire actor with six counts of disorderly conduct related to a staged homophobic and racist attack in January 2019. Smollett is accused of lying to police by saying he was the victim of the attack.
Smollett moved to have the new charges against him dropped, and the special prosecutor assigned to his case removed. Smollett’s legal team argued Cook County Judge Michael Toomin misinterpreted the law when he appointed a special prosecutor to Smollett’s case last year, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The actor’s attorneys argued the prosecutor named by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx should never have been removed from Smollett’s case without him filing a motion for recusal. Toomin removed the prosecutor chosen by Foxx after she recused herself from the case, saying that since Foxx had recused herself, she forfeited a say in choosing her successor.
“[If] there, in fact, had been a defect in the authority to prosecute Mr. Smollett, the only person who could properly challenge the validity of the proceedings would be Mr. Smollett — and he has not done so,” Smollett’s motion said.
Last year, Cook County prosecutors charged Smollett with 16 counts of disorderly conduct related to the same case. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office suddenly dropped the case with little explanation, leaving Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson furious.
“I’m offended by what has happened, and I’m also angry. I love the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department, warts and all. But this publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn’t earn and certainly didn’t deserve,” Johnson said in February 2019. “When that didn’t work, Smollett paid $3,500 to stage this attack and drag Chicago’s reputation through the mud in the process.”
