The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of former Empire actor Jussie Smollett.
Smollett, who was found guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct for falsely reporting a hate crime against himself, has been appealing his case since his 2021 conviction. While the Appellate Court of Illinois denied Smollett’s request last year, the Illinois Supreme Court has now ruled in his favor, citing due process violations.
“Today, we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” the court wrote in a statement. “Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.”
In the ruling, the Illinois Supreme Court referenced Bill Cosby’s trial as another case that generated “significant public interest.” It also acknowledged that “many people” were dissatisfied with the initial dismissal of Smollett’s charges, but ultimately argued that “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 detrimentally relied.”
Smollett’s case originates from a 2019 incident where two men seemingly attacked the actor for being homosexual. As police investigated, they discovered evidence that suggested Smollett had organized the attack himself, paying two brothers he met through the production of Empire $3,500 to play the part of the aggressors. Despite initially facing 16 felony counts, prosecutors dropped all charges in March of 2019. In early 2020, he faced new charges, eventually leading to his 2021 conviction. It’s this sequence of events — the dropping of the initial charges and the subsequent second round of charges — that ultimately led to the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision.
Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and was ordered to pay more than $130,000. Prior to the reversal, he had served six days of that sentence.
In 2022, after being released from jail due to his pending appeal, Smollett released an R&B song addressing his case, “Thank You God.”
