Actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction for fabricating a hate crime against him in 2019 was overturned Thursday.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled the state could not charge Smollett again after the initial charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal, per ABC News.
Plus, the former “Empire” actor already carried out the terms of the agreement.
In 2021, Smollett was found guilty for faking a racist and homophobic attack and lying to the police about the attack.
His attorneys contended this was a violation of his
Fifth Amendment rights because of the deal made in 2019 when the state agreed to drop the charges if he paid $10,000 and did community service.
He was later charged by a special prosecutor, put on trial and convicted.
The court stated in its decision that they are resolving a “question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants.”
Illinois case law states it is “fundamentally unfair to allow the prosecution to renege on a deal with a defendant when the defendant has relied on the agreement to his detriment.”
“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.
“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,” it said.
Smollett’s attorney, Nenye Uche, said they are thankful to the Illinois Supreme Court for “restoring order to Illinois’ criminal law jurisprudence.”
“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 in a statement.
“Ultimately, we are pleased that the rule of law was the big winner today,” he added.
Smollett was convicted in December 2021 on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report and lying to police.
He was sentenced to 150 days in county jail, ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and fined $25,000. He was also ordered to serve 30 months of probation.
On Jan. 29, 2019, the openly gay actor reported to police that two men allegedly shouted racist and homophobic slurs. They also allegedly hit him and poured “an unknown chemical substance” on him before wrapping a rope around his neck.
Brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo eventually told police the Smollett paid them $3,500 to help him stage the crime.
