SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) 鈥� The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor conviction on allegations that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lied to police.
argued that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state鈥檚 attorney initially dropped charges. The state's highest court heard arguments in September.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed two men assaulted him, spouted racial and homophobic slurs and tossed a noose around his neck, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police detectives and kicking up an international uproar. 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.
A jury convicted him of in 2021. Smollett has maintained his innocence.
His attorneys have argued that the case was over when the Cook County state鈥檚 attorney鈥檚 office an initial 16 counts of disorderly conduct after Smollett performed community service and forfeited a $10,000 bond.
A grand jury restored charges after a special prosecutor took the case.
Testimony at his trial indicated Smollett paid $3,500 to two men whom he knew from 鈥淓mpire鈥� to carry out the attack. Prosecutors said he told them what slurs to shout, and to yell that Smollett was in 鈥淢AGA country,鈥� an apparent reference to the Donald Trump鈥檚 presidential campaign slogan.
Smollett and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail 鈥� six of which he served before he was 鈥� 30 months of probation and ordered to pay about $130,000 in restitution.
A state appellate court ruling upheld Smollett鈥檚 the conviction, declaring that no one promised Smollett he wouldn鈥檛 face a fresh prosecution after accepting the original deal.
His attorneys have argued that Smollett has been victimized by a racist and politicized justice system.
The Associated Press
