Jussie Smollett has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn his conviction for lying about being the victim of a hate crime attack.
Jussie reported to Chicago Police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two white men, who were also MAGA supporters, wearing ski masks in January 2019. Police found that Jussie set up the crime and charged him and he was sent to jail.
“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.
According to the Chicago Tribune, 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 was sentenced to five months in jail, but was released six days after going into Cook County Jail while appealing his conviction and sentence.
In his appeal, he claims the prosecution used “uninvited commentary that was dismissive of lines of defense questioning that had sought to establish homophobia, a central theory of the defense case; made commentary defending a detective’s investigative decision during cross-examination; accused one of the defense counsels, without basis, of editorializing during cross-examination; and made commentary that sought to hurry along parts of the defense cross-examination; all of which occurred in front of the jury.”