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.
“Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford wrote in a 32-page ruling. “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.”
The ruling twice referred to Bill Cosby’s criminal case in Pennsylvania in which the court overturned the former icon’s sexual assault conviction after he reached a deal with prosecutors that stated he wouldn’t be charged over certain assault allegations.
This is a developing story.
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