Jussie Smollett update: Illinois Supreme Court overturns former 'Empire' actor's conviction
In its ruling, Illinois Supreme Court referred to Bill Cosby case in Pennsylvania
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Illinois State Supreme Court has dismissed Jussie Smollett's conviction for lying about an alleged Streeterville hate crime in a ruling issued Thursday.
It's the latest twist in a case marked by high drama.
The court said it has remanded the case back to the circuit court to enter a judgement of dismissal, calling it a "due process violation" on the grounds he shouldn't have stood trial after prosecutors cut a deal with him.
In a surprising 5-0 decision, the Illinois Supreme Court ordered the case be dismissed, ruling that an agreement reached between Smollett and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to drop criminal charges in exchange for a fine and community service should have stood.
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The court said in its ruling, "We 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. Nevertheless, 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."
Smollett was charged in 2019 with felony disorderly conduct after allegedly lying to police about staging a hate crime in Streeterville with the help of the Osundairo brothers, who doused him with bleach and put a noose around his neck. Weeks later, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office dropped the charges against Smollett in exchange for a fine and community service.
The decision at that time was made with the belief that he had done it and what was the remedy that could get us beyond it," Foxx said.
It's unfortunate what happened to him. He was railroaded," Smollett's lead attorney Nenye Uche said. "This was a travesty."
In its ruling, the Illinois Supreme Court referred to the Bill Cosby case in Pennsylvania in making its decision.
"As the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently stated when enforcing a prosecutorial promise not to prosecute, 'It cannot be gainsaid that society holds a strong interest in the prosecution of crimes. It is also true that no such interest, however important, ever can eclipse society's interest in ensuring that the constitutional rights of the people are vindicated. Society's interest in prosecution does not displace the remedy due to constitutionally aggrieved persons.' Cosby, 252 A.2d at 1147."
ABC7 Legal Analyst Gil Soffer explained what the ruling means for Smollett's future.
"Well, the order is that the charges should never have been brought, that the conviction is overturned, that the allegations should be dismissed," Gil Soffer said. "He's really free and clear from the perspective of the criminal process. Whether there are civil actions that can still be brought against them, whether there's lingering effect for his reputation or otherwise, separate question, but his record is clear."
Special Prosecutor Dan Webb's office released a statement saying it disagreed with the ruling. The statement said in part, "We respectfully disagree with the Court's factual and legal reasoning which upends long-standing Illinois precedent. Indeed, the Special Prosecutor's brief to the Illinois Supreme Court was replete with Illinois case law that would not preclude a second, new prosecution following a dismissal without prejudice via nolle prosequi. Even the Illinois Supreme Court agreed in its opinion that its holding today was not explicit in earlier Illinois decisions."
Bodycam video shows Jussie Smollett being taken into custody at Cook County Jail
In December, an Illinois appeals court upheld Smollett's disorderly conduct conviction, and Smollett turned to the state's highest court soon after.
The appeals court voted 2-1 in favor of upholding the conviction.
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In 2021, the former "Empire" TV star was convicted of faking a racist and homophobic attack in 2019 and then lying to police about it. Smollett alleged the Osundairo brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo, beat him up, doused him with bleach and put a noose around his neck.
His attorneys appealed that conviction, arguing that he should not have been punished for the same crime twice.
Back in 2019, he and Foxx had reached an agreement to drop the charges against him in exchange for $10,000 bond and community service. A special prosecutor was then appointed in 2020.
Smollett's lawyers claimed his conviction violated his Fifth Amendment rights against double jeopardy, which is a legal protection against a person being punished for the same crime twice.
The special prosecutor disagreed with their premise, arguing that Smollett did get due process and was never prosecuted in the 2019 case, adding that the agreement for his release included an understanding that he could be re-charged for the original crime.
Smollett's attorneys added that the special prosecutor, who they say never should've been appointed, also did not turn over important evidence to the defense team from an hour's long discussion with the Osundairo brothers.
Two of the seven justices on the state supreme court did not take part in the arguments or decision.
Thursday's ruling came over two and a half years after Smollett's most famous monologue.
"Your honor, I respect you, and I respect the jury, but I did not do this, and I am not suicidal," he said.
Foxx said she knew this is where the case would end as soon as a special prosecutor was appointed.
"The decision at the time recognized that Mr. Smollett was likely guilty for what he was accused. It has always confounded me that we spent this much time, energy and effort on one single case, which is why I believe wholeheartedly that it was beyond just the case and Mr. Smollett. It was truly an attempt to undermine me and the work that this office was doing," Foxx said.
Foxx defended her decision, even after Smollett was convicted of disorderly conduct in the case and ordered to pay the city of Chicago $120,000 in restitution.
"People can disagree with it, but to have a special prosecutor to reindict to upend our criminal justice system to ultimately try and engage in double jeopardy is not the criminal justice system we should have," Foxx said.
Soffer said this doesn't impact the facts or details of Smollett's prosecution.
"The court found it fundamentality unfair that the state could recharge Jussie Smollet after promising him it would drop the charges. That was this ruling. It had nothing to do with the merits of the case," Soffer said. "The heart of this ruling is the state is going to be held to its promises and its agreements. That's really what this is about."
Smollett's legal team and uncle spoke Thursday afternoon. They maintain his innocence.
"This was a vindictive persecution, not a prosecution," Uche said. "The Supreme Court made it clear: Prosecutions must be based on facts, not public opinion."
Uche called on the media to focus on the court's 32-page ruling.
"Report on the truth: The Supreme Court found the proceedings unfair. That's the story," he said, adding, "If this had been a regular citizen, this case would never have gone to trial."
Attorney Shay Allen echoed the sentiment, stating, "This case should have never gotten this far. The Supreme Court was united in its decision, standing by the rule of law."
Smollett's legal team noted that he had fulfilled the terms of his original agreement with prosecutors, including community service.
Attorney Heather Waddell confirmed, "He met all his obligations. The court's decision means he owes no further fines or service."
While the city of Chicago's civil case against Smollett for reimbursement of investigation costs remains unresolved, Uche emphasized, "Our focus today is on the criminal appeal."
"This case has wasted enough taxpayer money," Allen concluded. "It's time to move forward."
When asked how Smollett was feeling Thursday, Uche said, "The emotion I would describe is one of relief, and he is very happy and of course grateful to the Supreme Court for their decision and for not to be condescending in any way, doing the right thing."
"You cannot say, hey, the proceeding's unfair, but we're going to believe hook, line and sinker everything that came from the proceeding, doesn't work that way," Uche said.
Full statement from Special Prosecutor Dan Webb:
"We are disappointed in the Illinois Supreme Court's decision today to overturn Jussie Smollett's convictions and sentence, including the award of over $120,000 in restitution to the City of Chicago for its overtime expenses in investigating Mr. Smollett's fake hate crime. We respectfully disagree with the Court's factual and legal reasoning which upends long-standing Illinois precedent. Indeed, the Special Prosecutor's brief to the Illinois Supreme Court was replete with Illinois case law that would not preclude a second, new prosecution following a dismissal without prejudice via nolle prosequi. Even the Illinois Supreme Court agreed in its opinion that its holding today was not explicit in earlier Illinois decisions."
"Make no mistake-today's ruling has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett's innocence. The 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's unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct. In fact, Mr. Smollett did not even challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him in his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court."
"My office spent nearly two years developing evidence and working closely with the Chicago Police Department to prepare that case for trial. It is very important I point out that today's decision is also not the result of any error or conduct by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, the trial court, or the Chicago Police Department. In fact, the events that led to the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse Mr. Smollett's conviction occurred 5 months before I was appointed as Special Prosecutor."
"Rather, today's decision is only possible because of the unprecedented resolution of Mr. Smollett's initial case by the Cook County State's Attorneys' Office (CCSAO) in March 2019, which the Illinois Supreme Court determined barred Mr. Smollett from any further prosecution. The Illinois Supreme Court reached this decision notwithstanding the fact that the CCSAO dismissed the initial Smollett case via a nolle prosequi, which does not bar re-prosecution under Illinois law, and Mr. Smollett's own lawyers told the public immediately following the dismissal of his initial case in March 2019 that there was "no deal" with the CCSAO."
"As previously set forth in my 63-page, very detailed Special Prosecutor's Public Summary Report, my office developed evidence of substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures by the CCSAO in prosecuting and resolving the initial 2019 Smollett case, and also found that State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx and other CCSAO prosecutors made multiple false and/or misleading statements to the public. Those significant failures and false and/or misleading statements by State's Attorney Foxx's office led Cook County Judge Michael B. Toomin to appoint me as Special Prosecutor in order to restore the public's faith in Illinois' criminal justice system. In fact, there was a public clamor to have a well-respected trial lawyer and law firm agree to become a special prosecutor in order to help restore the public's confidence in the Cook County judicial system. My law firm, Winston & Strawn LLP, accepted the appointment pro bono with no compensation to the firm in order to give back to the City of Chicago."
"Our Winston & Strawn lawyers fulfilled this mandate by devoting over 5 years and more than 15,000 hours in examining the original Smollett investigation and bringing new charges, which yielded a unanimous jury conviction of Mr. Smollett in 2021 on five felony counts of wrongful misconduct. Nothing about today's decision upsets the work undertaken by the Special Prosecutor's office, or the overwhelming evidence underlying the jury's verdict that Mr. Smollett faked a hate crime and reported it as a real hate crime to the Chicago Police Department."
"Despite today's ruling, the City of Chicago remains able to pursue its pending civil lawsuit against Mr. Smollett in order to recoup the over $120,000 in overtime expenses the Chicago Police Department incurred for investigating Mr. Smollett's fake hate crime."
"I want to provide a special thanks to Deputy Special Prosecutors Sean G. Wieber, Samuel Mendenhall, and the entire team at Winston & Strawn who assisted in this matter, for all of their dedication and efforts over the years. Today's ruling does not change how deeply proud I am of the work my Special Prosecutor's office accomplished; nor does it undermine the jury's verdict, and most importantly, it does not clear Jussie Smollett's name-he is not innocent."
The Osundairo brothers' lawyer released a statement that said:
"The Osundairo Brothers and I have reviewed the 32-page opinion and respect the high court's decision. We concur with the sentiment laid out by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb, that the issue in this case was the handling of the matter by Kim Foxx's office and had nothing to do with whether Mr. Smollett was innocent of the crimes he was accused of committing. The jury got it right when they listened to all the evidence at trial and returned a guilty verdict on 5 counts of felony disorderly conduct against him.
"The Brothers stand by their sworn testimony; their honesty, veracity, credibility, and truthfulness for their role in the event was not questioned by the Supreme Court. The decision today in fact had nothing to do with questioning the Brother's testimony or Mr. Smollett's guilt, but rather on the conduct by the Cook County State Attorney in giving Mr. Smollett a sweetheart deal that only celebrity, social status, and influence can afford. Justice can never be achieved when it is the result of hallway handshakes, backroom conversations, and misleading statements to the public.
"The Brothers will continue to live their best lives and continue to spread love around the world."
ABC News contributed to this report.
