Chicago prosecutors on Tuesday abruptly dropped criminal charges against “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a phony hate crime against himself.
There was no plea deal in the case. Smollett agreed to forfeit his bail, but there was no other condition for the dismissal.
A spokesman for Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Fox, whose office was prosecuting Smollett, said, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollet’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.
The dismissal is a “stunning, surprising turn of events. Like something you might seen on Mr. Smollet’s TV show,” said Georgetown University Law professor Paul Butler on MSNBC.
It is not clear whether the dismissal will affect a separate investigation by the FBI into a threatening letter sent to the studio where “Empire” is filmed shortly before the alleged attack on Smollett. Chicago police have said that Smollett himself sent that letter, which threatened him.
Smollett has not been charged by federal authorities in connection with the letter. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, which would handle any federal prosecution of Smollett if one were to be lodged, declined to comment.
Smollet’s legal team, in a statement, reiterated its claim that Smollett was the victim of an actual attack.
“Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him,” Smollett’s legal team said in a statement Tuesday, according to NBC. “Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th.”
In the wake of his arrest in February, producers of the 20th Century Fox Television show “Empire” decided to remove the actor from the final two episodes of the latest season. Warner Bros.-owned TNT also pulled an episode of “Drop the Mic” that featured Smollett.
As of last week, Fox Television is owned by Disney. Disney had no immediate comment.
The Chicago Police Department, which had conducted the investigation into Smollett, declined to comment on the case being dismissed.
“All questions about that need to be directed to the State’s Attorney’s Office,” said a spokeswoman for the Chicago PD.
Smollett had been represented by celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos. On Monday, Geragos was identified as a co-conspirator of lawyer Michael Avenatti in an alleged scheme by Avenatti to extort up to $25 million from athletic shoe giant Nike by threatening to release damaging information about that company.
Geragos has not been criminally charged in that case.
Smollett told police in January that he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home around 2 a.m. The actor, who is black and gay, said he was beaten, had racist and homophobic comments shouted at him, had a chemical substance poured on him and a rope was looped around his neck before the attackers fled.
Brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo were arrested in February for allegedly being connected to the attack. They were later released without charges. Ola Osundairo appeared in season two of “Empire.” The Osundairo brothers told police that Smollett wrote them a check for $3,500 to carry out the attack.
Patricia Brown Holmes, Smollett’s attorney, said the $3,500 that Smollett gave the brothers was for nutrition and training.
Smollett had pleaded not guilty in the case on March 14. Before Tuesday’s dismissal hearing occurred, he was scheduled to be in court on April 17.
“We have gotten to a result which is the right result in this case and we are happy with that,” Holmes said during a news conference Tuesday. “He is a good, solid citizen of the city of Chicago.”
Source:CNBC
