Jussie Smollett has moved out of Chicago and doesn’t want to come back to the city Thursday for a hearing on a request for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the “Empire” actor’s now-dismissed case.
A motion filed by Smollett’s attorney Wednesday seeks to quash a request by former State Appeals Court Judge Sheila O’Brien to have the actor appear at the hearing.
Smollett’s lawyers already have filed motions in the case opposing appointment of a special prosecutor to probe how the Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office reached the controversial decision to dismiss all disorderly conduct charges against Smollett for allegedly staging a fake hate crime attack.
Smollett’s lawyers say the actor, whose character was written out of the upcoming season of “Empire,” moved out of the city in March, after Chicago police released a tranche of files in his case to the media that showed the address of his Streeterville apartment.
“To ensure his safety and security, Mr. Smollett immediately moved out of his apartment in Chicago. As of March 27, 2019, Mr. Smollett has returned to California and he does not maintain a residence in Chicago,” the motion states, noting that Smollett also would have to take on the burden of “additional security measures” should he return.
O’Brien has asked that a special prosecutor investigate both whether Smollett should be charged with faking an attack, as prosecutors alleged in an indictment against the actor, as well as probing how Foxx’s office handled the decision to eventually dismiss the charges. O’Brien also has asked that a judge from outside Cook County be assigned to decide the special prosecutor question.
Foxx also has filed motions opposing O’Brien’s petition, and the embattled state’s attorney has asked Judge LeRoy K. Martin Jr., chief of the criminal division, to quash subpoenas for her and her top deputy, Joseph Magats.
