The Jury in the Trial of Jussie Smollett has reached their verdict. According to NPR, after contemplating the evidence for a couple days, they have found him "guilty on five of the six charges" brought against the actor. The court plans to meet again to issue the punishment which can include time in prison.
Authored by Doc Comeau on Saturday, December 11th, 2021 at 1:13 PM EST
For those that do not know Jussie Smollett was an actor from the show Empire that claimed he was approached be two individuals in MAGA hats shouted this is "MAGA country," assaulted him and then "tied a noose around his neck." A story that was largely rejected by the public and now the jury. In reality he was assaulted be two Nigerian brothers, he worked with, that he paid to stage the event to serve some unknown purpose. You can hear it in his own words in the excerpt from an interview with Smollett on Entertainment Tonight.
Reporter: And there is no doubt in your mind what motivated this attack
Jussie Smollett: I can only go off oa their words. I mean who says F***in Empire N**** this MAGA Country N****, ties a noose around your neck and pours bleach on you?
According to Morning in America Jussie Smollett's attorneys maintain the idea and narrative that the actor is still not guilty of these crimes. Despite this Fox News reports the Jury did find him guilty on the following counts "telling officers he was a hate crime victim, telling officers he was a battery victim, telling detectives he was a hate crime victim, telling detectives he was a battery victim, and telling detectives again he was a battery victim." However, the same report says the Jury found him innocent of the charge of "telling 2nd detective, he was an aggravated battery victim." Hear the Prosecutor below discuss the verdict immediately following it being issued.
Prosecutor; With the resounding verdict we just recieved from this jury after one day of deliberations in which they found Mr. Smollett guilty of virtually all charges of doing exactly what we said he did.
The New York Post reports that Legal expert Joey Jackson thinks because he testified in court he was innocent he is likely to receive prison time. However, it is important to note that they same expert also said he could receive "probation" based off his prior record. Only time will tell as we wait for the sentence.
Don Lemon; Is Smollett was likely to face jail time?
Joey Jackson; Yes, because the Judge will want send a message to all others that you probably should not be doing this.
Smollett's problems do not stop there. Fox News states "The city of Chicago" also seek to have Smollett pay restitution for the expenditures investigating the hoax.
Chicargo; The City filed a civil lawsuit against Jussie Smollett to recover costs incurred by the Chicago Police Department investigating what the City believed to be Smollett's false police reports that he was a victim of a hate crime," read the statement. "While using a different standard of proof, the jury's finding of guilt convicting Jussie Smollett of criminal charges stemming from the incident confirms that the City was correct in bringing its civil lawsuit.
So now the man has a battle on two fronts. Fight the lawsuit for restitution and present his appeal. We will bring you an update as the Judge issue his sentence.
1) Chappell, B., & Romo, V. (2021, December 10). Jussie Smollett found guilty of lying to authorities in trial over his alleged attack. NPR. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2021/12/09/1062768250/jussie-smollett-verdict.
Archive At; https://archive.ph/gGhrT
2) Entertainment Tonight. (2019, February 14). Jussie Smollett tearfully details his attack ... - youtube.com. YouTube. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eDGRZ1VoZg.
Archived At; https://archive.ph/atzZx
3) Kalich, S., & Bankert, A. (2021, December 10). How a subway sandwich contributed to the Jussie smollett verdict. NewsNation Now. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://www.newsnationnow.com/morninginamerica/smolletts-lawyers-speak-about-the-guilty-verdict..
Archived At; https://archive.ph/k2FT6
4) Young, J., & Day, N. (2021, December 10). Guilty: Jussie Smollett's 'empire' falls after learning fate in fake hate crime attack to help boost career. Fox News. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-verdict-alleged-hate-crime-hoax-trial.
Archived At; https://archive.ph/virx3
5) Now This News. (2021, December 9). Verdict Reached in Jussie Smollett Trial | LIVE. YouTube. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1H4lGj51OU&t=1833s.
Archived At; https://archive.ph/EfMYz
6) Crane, E. (2021, December 10). Don Lemon Brands pal Jussie Smollet a liar. New York Post. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://nypost.com/2021/12/10/don-lemon-brands-pal-jussie-smollet-a-liar/.
Archived At; https://archive.ph/YSnsS
7) Nolasco, S. (2021, December 10). Jussie Smollett Verdict: City of Chicago Will 'continue to pursue its lawsuit' against the 'empire' actor. Fox News. Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-verdict-chicago-lawsuit.
Archived At; https://archive.ph/vwtpn
