Disgraced actor Jussie Smollett had his conviction for lying about a fake racist and homophobic attack in downtown Chicago thrown out by the Illinois Supreme Court on a technicality.
In a shocking twist, the court found that the former “Empire” actor had his Fifth Amendment rights violated by a special prosecutor’s decision to try him after initial charges against him were previously dropped.
It’s the latest turn a case that has captivated the country for nearly six years. Smollett’s lead attorney, Nenye Uche claimed that the devision to prosecute Smollett in the first place was a “travesty of justice.”
Smollett, 42, who is black and gay, claimed two men in Make America Great Again hats assaulted him in the dead of night in January 2019, approaching him out of nowhere in the darkness and declaring “this is MAGA country” before the attack.
According to Smollet, the men yelled homophobic and racial slurs, put a noose around his neck and doused him with bleach, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police that cost the city more than $130,000.
However, investigators quickly unraveled the elaborate self-victimization ruse, revealing the actor actually hired two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, to stage the attack in a ploy to boost his profile and burnish his tough guy credentials.
Hellbound and Down 