SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) 鈥� The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying to Chicago police, saying he should not have been charged a second time after reaching a deal with prosecutors.
The ruling, which did not address Smollett's continued claims of innocence, was the latest twist in a yearslong saga. Smollett, who is Black and gay, made headlines around the world after he told police in January 2019 that two men assaulted him in his downtown Chicago neighborhood, spouting slurs, tossing a noose around his neck, and yelling that he was in 鈥淢AGA country,鈥� an apparent reference to Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� presidential campaign slogan. The report prompted a massive search for suspects by Chicago police before investigators announced that they believed the attack was a hoax.
The that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after Smollett reached a deal with the Cook County state鈥檚 attorney in which charges against him were dropped in exchange for him forfeiting his $10,000 bond and performing community service. The deal in part because it did not include any condition that Smollett apologize or admit he staged the attack.
鈥淲e 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,鈥� Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the court鈥檚 5-0 opinion. 鈥淣evertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the state was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.鈥�
Smollett was on the television drama 鈥淓mpire,鈥� which filmed in Chicago, and prosecutors alleged he staged the attack because he was unhappy with the studio鈥檚 response to hate mail he received. Testimony at trial indicated he paid $3,500 to two men whom he knew from 鈥淓mpire鈥� to carry it out. Smollett and that he was the victim of a hate crime.
Smollett declined to comment Thursday through a publicist. His attorney, Nenye Uche, said Smollett was happy and relieved but also disappointed to have been 鈥渄ragged through an unfair process.鈥�
鈥淓ven though this is over now and Jussie just absolutely wants to move his life forward, people should start asking questions. How did this happen? Why should this even happen? What can we do to make sure this doesn鈥檛 happen again?鈥� Uche said at a news conference in Chicago.
The special prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, said he disagreed with the court鈥檚 ruling while noting that it 鈥渉as nothing to do with Mr. Smollett鈥檚 innocence.鈥�
鈥淭he Illinois Supreme Court did not find any error with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that Mr. Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime and reported it to the Chicago Police Department as a real hate crime, or the jury鈥檚 unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct,鈥� Webb said.
After Cook County State鈥檚 Attorney Kim Foxx's office the initial 16 counts of disorderly conduct, the backlash was swift, with then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel calling it 鈥渁 whitewash of justice.鈥� Webb was appointed special prosecutor and a grand jury restored charges, leading to Smollett's 2021 conviction on .
Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail 鈥� six of which he served before he was 鈥� and was ordered to pay about $130,000 in restitution. Chicago officials are pursuing reimbursement for that amount in police overtime through a civil case.
Foxx told The Associated Press that she was not surprised that the high court found her handling of the case 鈥減roper 鈥� if unpopular, proper.鈥� She criticized Webb's ensuing 鈥渓egal machinations,鈥� which she said ignored the tenet of prosecutorial discretion and landed the issue in the 鈥渟ame position we were in in March 2019.鈥�
鈥淲hat they were doing in going to the court to re-prosecute someone because you didn鈥檛 like the outcome would have set a horrendous precedent, in which anyone could come in and undermine the work of a prosecutor鈥檚 office,鈥� said Foxx, who did not seek a third term this year.
Eileen O鈥橬eill Burke, the , declined to comment.
Smollett, a child actor who appeared in 1992 movie 鈥淭he Mighty Ducks,鈥� has credited his role as a singer on the hip-hop drama 鈥淓mpire鈥� for turbocharging . This year, he starred in the movie 鈥淭he Lost Holliday鈥� with Vivica A. Fox.
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and Justice Joy Cunningham took no part in Thursday鈥檚 decision.
___
Tareen reported from Chicago.
John O'connor And Sophia Tareen, The Associated Press
