Jussie Smollett has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to review an appellate ruling upholding his conviction for lying about being the victim of a hate crime attack.
“What should have been a straightforward case has been complicated by the intersection of politics and public outrage,” Smollett’s attorneys wrote in a court filing late Monday.
A three-judge panel of the state appellate court in December affirmed the former “Empire” actor’s conviction and said it did not find his sentence unreasonable.
But Justice Fredrenna Lyle dissented, saying she would have overturned his conviction. She agreed with Smollett’s lawyers that prosecutors had entered into a non-prosecution agreement when the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dismissed the initial charges against Smollett in return for him forfeiting his bond and preforming community service.
Smollett’s attorneys have focused on that argument in their request for review by the Supreme Court, which could decline to hear the case, send it back to the appellate court for review or back to the trial court, legal experts have told the Sun-Times.
In Monday’s filing, Smollett also claims he is protected against double jeopardy because, by turning over his bond and performing community service, he says he was already punished.
Smollett’s request for a rehearing before the appellate court was denied last month.
In January 2019, Smollett claimed he was attacked by two men who beat him, poured bleach on him and hung a thin rope noose around his neck. The story quickly became national news, particularly in light of Smollett’s claims that his attackers made remarks indicating they were supporters of President Trump.
The story quickly fell apart, however, and he was charged a month later.
During the trial, prosecutors showed video of Smollett picking up the men who attacked him in his SUV and driving them around, including the area where the attack would be staged, according to prosecutors.
When he took the stand at his trial and in public remarks, Smollett has maintained he wasn’t involved in orchestrating the attack. But a jury sided with prosecutors, who argued that the actor had planned the attack as a publicity stunt.
Smollett was sentenced to five months in jail, but would likely have had to serve half that time. He was released six days after going into Cook County Jail while appealing his conviction and sentence.
