‘Honor the agreements it makes with defendants’: Illinois Supreme Court invokes Bill Cosby in overturning Jussie Smollett’s conviction for allegedly faking hate crime

Actor Jussie Smollett is led out of the courtroom after being sentenced to jail time on Thursday, March 10, 2022 at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. (Photo by Brian Cassella/Pool/Chicago Tribune.)

Actor Jussie Smollett is led out of the courtroom after being sentenced to jail time on Thursday, March 10, 2022 at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. (Photo by Brian Cassella/Pool/Chicago Tribune.)

The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the conviction of actor Jussie Smollett for allegedly lying about being the victim of a hate crime in 2019. The ruling overturned his trial court conviction on five counts of disorderly conduct as well as an Illinois appellate court ruling that upheld the conviction.

The court reasoned that because prosecutors in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office agreed to drop the charges against Smollett as part of a negotiated deal, they could not bring the same charges against him a second time.

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