Jussie Smollett's hate crime hoax conviction overturned by Illinois supreme court

Jussie Smollett, the actor known for his role in Empire, has had his conviction for staging a hate crime overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court.

The decision came on Thursday when the court ruled that his right to a fair trial had been violated due to Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx initially dropping all charges against him before a special prosecutor decided to retry the case.

The court found that this process did not honor the previous legal agreements made by Smollett.

An unjust decision for the public

In its ruling, the court stated that while the case had generated significant public interest and many people felt the original resolution was unjust, "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's lawyer, Nenye Uche, argued that the case was a "vindictive persecution," not based on facts.

"This was not a prosecution based on facts, rather it was a vindictive persecution, and such a proceeding has no place in our criminal justice system," Uche said.

The issues that have Smollett behind bars

The actor, who was convicted in 2021 for orchestrating a fake hate crime, had also faced legal consequences, including a sentence of 150 days in jail in 2022, though he served only a small portion of his sentence while appealing the decision.

The Smollett case began in January 2019 when he claimed he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs.

However, it was later discovered that Smollett had paid two men to stage the attack. The Chicago Police Department found no evidence to support his story, leading to his arrest.

With the overturning of his conviction, Smollett is back in the public eye, defending his innocence and asserting that the legal proceedings against him were unjust.

The actor continues to work professionally, including directing the movie Lost Holliday, which was released in September.

Additionally, in late 2023, Smollett entered outpatient rehab. "It's something he's been wanting to do for years," a source close to him said.