Actor Jussie Smollett’s appeal of his criminal conviction will now be heard in Illinois Supreme Court.
His appeal to the State Supreme Court is approved, and the Supreme Court justices will weigh his case once and for all.
Jussie has been appealing his conviction since a jury found him guilty of lying to cops about a hate crime he claimed he’d been victim to. He was defiant after the verdict came in and while he was sentenced to 150 days in jail, he spent only served 6 days behind bars before he was sprung as his appeal worked its way through the court system.
He was handed a loss in an Illinois appeals court when he first asked them to look over the case, with a 3-judge panel upholding the conviction and finding that the jury was justified in their decision.
Jussie appealed that decision, throwing a Hail Mary in hopes that the Illinois Supreme Court would hear him out and now, they’ve signalled they’re willing to do that.
Jussie’s whole argument here on why his conviction should be tossed is based on his claim that he had a deal with the prosecutors who were first handling his case, which he says explicitly stated he wouldn’t be prosecuted if he signed up for their terms.
The special prosecutor, however, said the deal Jussie thought he’d struck with the previous team did not, in fact, protect him from further charges and he also argued double jeopardy doesn’t apply in this case. It’s all very technical, but the special prosecutor is asking the State Supreme Court to reject his bid.
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