Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett is appealing a 2019 hate crime charge that resulted in a 150-day prison sentence.
Smollett only served six days in jail when he was released pending his appeal. Although the actor’s legal team was originally forced to file his appeal brief last August, a judge granted him five extensions since then.
In December 2021, Smollett was convicted of lying to police when he claimed he was attacked by two men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him and wrapped a rope around his neck.
Jussie Smollett Files To Appeal 150 Day Jail Sentence
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On Thursday, court documents obtained by The Blast were filed in the First Judicial District of the State of Illinois. Attorney Heather Widell cited double jeopardy and claimed that the actor was “punished for the same offense as his community service performance and forfeiture of his bond.”
In 2019, Smollett was indicted on sixteen counts, but the charges were later dropped. After significant media attention, another judge appointed a special prosecutor, who renewed the charges. Under the principle of “double jeopardy,” Smollett’s legal team argued that he should not be charged twice after the first charge was dismissed.
His legal team also argued for restitution of the $120,000 Smollett was ordered to pay to the Chicago Police Department and his $25,000 fine. His attorney argued that the police department is not considered a “victim” under Illinois law and therefore the restitution order should be overturned.
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Smollett’s legal team also argued that Judge James Linn rushed their cross-examination and made opinion comments in front of the jury. They also claimed that Linn’s comments during the sentencing took on a “tone of personal revenge” that shocked the public.
During the sentencing, according to Politico, Linn told Jussie that he was charged with launching a hate crime “because you’re selfish, arrogant and narcissistic calling attention to yourself … you’ve taken a lot of resources from other places, real victims of other real crimes … and using police resources for your own benefit.”
Although the court of public opinion is against the actor, in June 2022, sat down with SiriusXM’s Sway Calloway on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning. During a wide-ranging interview, Smollett said that he understands why people are so upset about the case.
Jussie Smollett Says He Understands Why ‘People Feel Betrayed’
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During the interview, Smollett said, “I don’t, there’s a part of me that, you know, when I strip away me, when I strip away my ego, when I strip away my personal emotions about it and my personal situation, me, the way it’s presented to all people, I totally understand why people feel betrayed.”
He also discussed his controversial interview with Robin Roberts. The interview was played at trial and contradicted several elements of his testimony. “The interview wasn’t for me, it was for my character,” he said.
Smollett explained that “I don’t want to do an interview. … And I don’t want to get too deep, you know, because I love and respect Robin Roberts, you know what I’m saying? But I don’t want to do that interview.”
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He later said that he didn’t actually watch the interview until it was played for him at trial. “I did not watch the interview at all. I didn’t watch the interview at all until we were on trial and I had to watch it because they tried to use the interview as evidence of a lie or whatever.”
“So I had to watch it and I watched it and I was embarrassed,” he continued. “I mean, I feel ashamed. I mean, I was disappointed with… every word I said in that interview was the truth, but there was a certain level of performance that came from it because I didn’t want to be there.”
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He also said that his family did their best to protect him from the media scrutiny surrounding his case. “I have been shut off from the world. I was shut off from the world. I mean like my family, my family took my phone. I don’t have my phone,” he said. “They took … I wasn’t allowed on social media.”
“They protected me from it in a very beautiful way,” she explained. “And then I, and then maybe about a year later, I, I was somewhere with my family, for my sister Jazz’s birthday. And I for the first time decided to use Google myself.”
Jussie called it “the worst idea ever,” adding, “Yeah…. I really saw what it was, and it hurt a lot. Because I was like, ‘Ooh, he said that about me. Oh my God. Oh, he said so. What?'”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
