Jussie Smollett will have his day in court over the appeal of his criminal conviction – in fact, he will be able to present his case before the highest court in the land… in Illinois, that is.
The actor just scored a big W on Wednesday — because the Illinois Supreme Court classified his case as one that’s open for hearing… in other words, his appeal to the State Supreme Court was approved, and the justices to The court will weigh this saga once and for all.
01/29/2019
Remember, Jussie has been appealing his conviction practically since it occurred in 2021… when a jury found him guilty of lying to police officers about a hate crime he claimed to have been a victim of.
03/10/22
WGN
Jussie was defiant after the verdict was given – and while he was sentenced to 150 days in prison… JS only served 6 days behind bars before being released while his appeal worked its way through the court system.
03/16/22
Fox 32Chicago
There were some ups and downs leading up to this big ruling… as we reported, he suffered a loss in an Illinois appeals court when he first asked them to review the case, with a three-judge panel upholding the conviction and concluding that the jury was justified in his decision.
Of course… Jussie appealed that ruling, throwing a Hail Mary in hopes that the Illinois Supreme Court would hear him — and now, they’ve signaled they’re willing to do just that.
You must remember… Jussie’s entire argument here about why his conviction should be thrown out is based on his claim that he had an agreement with the prosecutors who were first handling his case, which he says explicitly stated that would not be prosecuted if he signed its terms.
At the time, all Jussie was asked to do was waive a bond he had posted… and perform community service – and he says he kept his end of the bargain. Then, though, a special prosecutor came on board and put him under gun again… which Jussie calls bullshit.
The special prosecutor, however, said that the deal Jussie thought he had made with the previous team did not, in fact, protect him from further charges… and he also argued that double jeopardy did not apply in this case. It’s all very technical, but the special prosecutor asked the State Supreme Court to reject his proposal.
Now, though… it’s clear they find some merit in Jussie’s argument – enough to at least listen to the whole thing. Jussie has managed to avoid going back to prison throughout this entire appeals process… and he’s done a lot in the meantime, including working on yourself.
