Jussie Smollett conviction reversed by Illinois Supreme Court

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The conviction of Jussie Smollett was reversed by the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday.

The state's highest court found that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state's attorney initially dropped charges against Smollett in exchange for him forfeiting his $10,000 bond and conducting community service.

The former "Empire" actor was convicted on charges that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lied to police. He appealed his disorderly conduct conviction to the state's highest court in September.

Thursday's ruling from the Illinois Supreme Court read in part: "Today we resolve a question about the State’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants. Specifically, we address whether a dismissal of a case by nolle prosequi allows the State to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction."

In 2019, Smollett claimed two men wearing red MAGA hats jumped him outside his downtown apartment building and made racist, homophobic comments. He was accused of staging a hoax but Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the charges against him in exchange for a fine and community service.

"If this was the regular Joe down the street, this case would have never even gone to trial. No prosecutor would have taken this case to trial. It was ridiculous. There was no direct evidence linking him to anything…," said Smollett's attorney.

Following that, special prosecutor Dan Webb investigated. Smollett was put on trial and found guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail - six of which he served before he was freed pending appeal, 30 months of probation and ordered to pay $130,160 in restitution.

Smollett’s attorney said Smollett was the victim of double jeopardy.

FOX 32 legal analyst Karen Conti explained the crux of Smollett's appeal in September.

"When Kim Foxx cut the deal with him, whereby he would do community service and sacrifice his bond money, that was a deal and it should have been honored," Conti said. "When the special prosecutor brought charges again, that that violated the double jeopardy clause of the Constitution and even if didn't technically violate the due process and double jeopardy clause, it was unfair to cut a deal and then prosecute him again."

The 32-page court document explained the court's decision to reverse the conviction.

"We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust," Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the 5-0 decision. "Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the state was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied."

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and Justice Joy Cunningham took no part in Thursday's decision.

Webb released a statement, condemning the state Supreme Court's decision:

"Make no mistake—today’s ruling has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence. The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any error with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that Mr. Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime and reported it to the Chicago Police Department as a real hate crime, or the jury’s unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct. In fact, Mr. Smollett did not even challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him in his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court."

Webb noted that Chicago officials can still pursue their civil case against Smollett that seeks to recoup the $130,000, the amount police say they paid in overtime to pursue Smollett's accusations.

Click here to read Webb's full reaction to the ruling.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mobile users, click here to read the Illinois Supreme Court's full ruling