Lawyers representing former Empire actor, Jussie Smollett have filed an appeal pertaining to his December 2021 conviction, where it was stated that he fabricated a racist and homophobic attack on himself and then lied to Chicago police about it.
Conviction Of Jussie Smollet In Hate Crime Hoax Case Is Appealed
Just last year, a Cook County judge sentenced Smollett to one hundred and fifty days in jail and two years’ probation. He was also ordered to pay a twenty-five thousand dollars fine and restitution of more than one hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
Jussie Smollett however walked out of jail six days later after an appeals court ruled that he should be released while his conviction was appealed.
His attorneys are now seeking to keep him from having to return to jail and complete his sentence.
In his appellate brief, Smollett’s legal team called for a new trial, claiming clear and egregious prosecutorial misconduct.
In the one-hundred-and-two-page document, his attorneys wrote, “Mr. Smollett’s constitutional rights to due process and to a fair trial were denied by prosecutorial misconduct including allegations that a defence witness was pressured to change his statement.”
According to reports, Smollett’s attorneys were initially due to file his appeal last August but were granted five extensions of that deadline.
The forty-year-old former ‘Empire’ actor was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct in December 2021 ranging from fabricating a racist and homophobic attack on himself and then lying to Chicago police about it.’
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