Actor Smollett's Conviction Upheld By Cook County Appeals Court

CHICAGO — A Cook County Appellate Court on Friday upheld the conviction of actor Jussie Smollett who was previously convicted on criminal charges of disorderly conduct.

In a 2-1 decision issued on Friday, judges determined that prosecutors did not commit double jeopardy in charging Smollett, who faced the charges in connection with falsely reporting a hate crime. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx had previously dropped charges against the former “Empire” actor, who was accused of hiring two brothers to stage and racist and homophobic attack on Smollett.

Smollett was sentenced in 2021 to spend 150 days in jail and was ordered to pay more than $130,000 in restitution as well as 30 months of probation before his attorneys appealed the decision, claiming that Smollett could not face criminal charges in the incident after Foxx announced her decision to drop charges.

However, the two judges who ruled in a 69-page decision against overturning Smollett’s conviction on Friday found that Cook County prosecutors did not agree to file new charges against the actor when Foxx dropped other charges stemming from the incident.

Smollett was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2021, two years after Foxx announced that she would drop the charges against Smollett in exchange for a $10,000 bond and community service. But a special prosecutor was ordered to review the incident and charged the actor, who spent six days in jail before appealing the conviction.

If Friday’s decision is not overturned, Smollett could be ordered back to jail to serve out the remainder of his sentence. He was ordered to be held in protective custody while serving out his sentence.

Smollett's attorneys told TMZ that they are planning to appeal Friday's decision and will take their case to the Supreme Court if necessary.

"We wish to highlight that the decision was divided, with Justice Lyle offering a detailed analysis in favor of Smollett," the attorneys told the entertainment website. "We are preparing to escalate this matter to the Supreme Court, armed with a substantial body of evidence.”

Smollett was charged with filing a false police report in the 2019 incident in which he claimed that two men attacked him while yelling homophobic slurs at him and placing a noose around his neck. After being sentenced to 150 days in jail in 2021, Smollett claimed that he was not suicidal but has maintained his innocence since being charged.

"If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBT community," Smollett said in 2021 as he left the courtroom. "Your Honor, I respect you and I respect the jury but I did not do this. And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that."