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Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP After a series of delays, the trial for former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has finally begun. The performer is charged with six felony counts of filing a false police report in connection with his claim that he was the victim of a racial and homophobic assault in the Chicago area in 2019.
Cook County Judge James Linn is presiding over the proceedings, which could last through the entire week. WGN-TV reported: A grand jury, empaneled by special prosecutor Dan Webb, brought the charges against Smollett in February 2020 — about a year after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office moved to quickly dismiss the initial set of charges leveled against Smollett. On Monday, the jury will be selected to determine whether Smollett concocted an elaborate hate crime hoax in Streeterville. WGN-TV reported: The case gripped the city when it was first thrust into public view. Smollett, a Black and gay actor on the Fox series “Empire,” told Chicago police that he was attacked by two masked men in the middle of a frigid night after he left a Subway restaurant. Smollett said his attackers used homophobic and racial slurs while putting a noose around his neck, with one of the assailants telling him, “This is MAGA country,” a reference to former President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Police soon became suspicious of Smollett’s story, and the actor became a suspect, charged with filing a false police report. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself from the cases to “address questions of impartiality.”
However, shortly after, the charges against the actor were summarily dropped with little explanation. The City of Chicago filed a federal lawsuit against Smollett to recoup the funds spent investigating his assault claim.
But Smollett was still not off the hook because Cook County Judge Michael Toomin appointed Dan Webb – former U.S. Attorney for Illinois’ Northern District – as special prosecutor to determine whether the state’s attorney’s office had engaged in wrongdoing when it dropped the charges. A grand jury later indicted the actor in February 2020.
The Associated Press reported: Smollett is accused of lying […]
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