The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s 2021 convictions, declaring that his rights were violated when a special prosecutor retried him after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office had previously dropped all charges.
The court’s decision ended one of the most polarizing legal cases in recent Illinois history.
The Empire actor was convicted of five counts of disorderly conduct in December 2021 for allegedly fabricating a hate crime in January 2019. He was accused of lying to police when he reported being attacked by two men in Chicago, claiming they hit him, hurled homophobic slurs, and placed a noose around his neck.
Following his conviction, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and $130,160 in restitution. However, due to ongoing appeals, he never served his sentence.
The Supreme Court found that the decision to retry Smollett violated his rights, stating that agreements made by the State’s Attorney’s Office should be honored. The court emphasized the importance of upholding legal agreements to maintain trust in the judicial system.
“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,” the court wrote in its opinion shared by the Chicago Tribune. “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.”
The case will now return to the trial court for dismissal.
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