The conviction of actor Jussie Smollett has been overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court

CHICAGO (CBS) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett's conviction for committing a hate crime.

Smollett He was convicted of five counts of disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 150 days in jail in 2021, but was released after only six days behind bars. while appealing his case. Smollett has maintained her innocence from the start.

Smollett said she was the victim of racist and homophobic attacks near her Streeterville apartment in January 2019 after walking several blocks from a Subway sandwich shop.

After police investigated his claims, detectives later zeroed in on Smollett himself, who was charged with fake hate crimes with brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, who later paid them to carry out the attacks.

Defense attorneys argued that his case violated his Fifth Amendment double jeopardy protections, after Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx's office agreed to drop his original charges.

A special prosecutor was later assigned to reinvestigate the case, and he brought a new case against him, but Smollett's lawyers argued that the special prosecutor should never have been allowed to bring new charges.

On Thursday, the state's highest court sided with Smollett's lawyers, overturned his conviction, and ordered that the charges against him be dismissed.

“Today we resolve the question about the State's obligation to honor the agreements it makes with the accused. Specifically, we are talking about whether the dismissal of the case by nolle prosequi allows the State to prosecute a second time when the dismissal was made as part of the agreement. With the accused and the accused has done his part of the agreement, we hold that the second prosecution under these circumstances is a violation of the process appropriate, we therefore vacate the defendant's conviction, Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the court's decision.

Cook County prosecutors dropped the original charges against Smollett weeks after his indictment, in order to forfeit his $10,000 bond and serve 16 hours of community service, but a judge later ruled that Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx's office had mishandled the case and ordered a mistrial. special prosecutor to review it.

That special prosecutor later brought in a new jury to indict Smollett, too He was convicted of five counts of disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 150 days in jail. He he served only six days of that sentence before he was released while appealing his case.

Last December, the An Illinois Appellate Court panel affirmed Smollett's convictionalong with prosecutors who said there was no evidence prosecutors had agreed not to continue prosecuting Smollett when his original charges were dropped.

But U.S. Circuit Judge Freddrenna Lyle overturned that decision, saying it was “absolutely wrong” to appoint a special prosecutor to charge Smollett a second time after he struck a deal he believed would end the case.

In reversing Smollett's conviction, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed with defense attorneys that the special prosecutor's decision to file new charges violated Smollett's rights after the original trial was dismissed and Smollett agreed to post his $10,000 bond.

“It defies belief that the defendant would agree to forfeit $10,000 in agreement that [prosecutors] they may charge him the next day,” said the court's decision.

The Illinois Supreme Court sent Smollett's case back to court to formally enter the dismissal of the charges.

“We know that this case has aroused a lot of public interest and that many people are not satisfied with the decision of the first case and believe that it was unfair,” said this opinion. “However, what would be more unjust than the settlement of any single criminal case would be the holding of this court that the State was not bound to honor the agreements on which the people depend so much.”

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