{"id":1064269,"date":"2021-11-29T10:43:53","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1064269"},"modified":"2021-11-29T10:43:59","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:43:59","slug":"jussie-smollett-hate-crime-hoax-trial-brothers-to-testify-disgraced-actor-paid-them-to-pose-as-his-attackers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jussie-smollett-hate-crime-hoax-trial-brothers-to-testify-disgraced-actor-paid-them-to-pose-as-his-attackers\/","title":{"rendered":"Jussie Smollett Hate Crime Hoax Trial: Brothers to Testify Disgraced Actor Paid Them to Pose as His Attackers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjussie-smollett-hate-crime-hoax-trial-brothers-to-testify-disgraced-actor-paid-them-to-pose-as-his-attackers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1064269&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Two brothers stand at the center of the case that prosecutors will lay before jurors when the trial of Jussie Smollett begins this week.<\/p>\n<p>The former \u201cEmpire\u201d actor <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-ap-top-news-us-news-tv-chicago-5979b83326c045f59a8823294c38e9c7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">contends he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault <\/a>in downtown Chicago on a frigid night in January 2019. The siblings, who worked with him on the TV show, <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jussie-smollett-north-america-us-news-ap-top-news-college-football-656df396b0284006b6ca9c18ca7b3fa2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">say he paid them $3,500 to pose as his attackers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Smollett is accused of lying to police about the alleged attack and has been charged with felony disorderly conduct. A class 4 felony, the crime carries a sentence of up to three years in prison but experts have said it is more likely that if Smollett is convicted he would be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service.<\/p>\n<p>Whether Smollett, who is Black and gay, testifies remains an open question. But the siblings, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, will take the witness stand where they are expected to repeat what they have told police officers and prosecutors \u2014 that they carried out the attack at Smollett\u2019s behest.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10151826\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/osundairo-cctv.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10151826 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/osundairo-cctv.jpg\" alt width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Nigerian brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo are set to testify at the upcoming trial for disgraced \u201cEmpire\u201d actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of lying to police about being beaten during a racially motivated hate crime. @team_abel, WBBM<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jurors also may see <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jussie-smollett-north-america-ap-top-news-business-wire-technology-ca-state-wire-ca0fabcc072d4fc4881237772ef25176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">surveillance video from more than four dozen cameras<\/a> that police reviewed to trace the brothers\u2019 movements before and after the reported attack, as well as a video showing the brothers purchasing a red hat, ski masks and gloves from a beauty supply shop hours earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Smollett\u2019s attorneys have not spelled out how they will confront that evidence and the lead attorney, Nenye Uche, declined to comment. But there are clues as to how they might during the trial, which starts with jury selection Monday in a Chicago courtroom. It is expected to last a week.<\/p>\n<p>Buried in nearly 500 pages of Chicago Police Department reports is a statement from a woman who lived in the area who says she saw a white man with \u201creddish brown hair\u201d who appeared to be waiting for someone that night.<\/p>\n<p>She told a detective that when the man turned away from her, she \u201ccould see hanging out from underneath his jacket what appeared to be a rope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her comments could back up Smollett\u2019s contention that his attackers draped a makeshift noose around his neck. Further, if she testified that the man was white, it would support Smollett\u2019s statements \u2014 widely ridiculed because the brothers, who come from Nigeria, are Black \u2014 that he saw pale or white skin around the eyes of one of his masked attackers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>One of the defense attorneys, Tina Glandian, suggested during a March 2019 appearance on NBC\u2019s \u201cToday\u201d show, that one of the brothers could have used white makeup around his eyes to make Smollett believe he was white. To address skepticism on the jury, Glandian could ask the brothers about a video she talked about on the program that she said shows one of them in whiteface reciting a monologue by the Joker character from a movie.<\/p>\n<p>Given there is so much evidence, including the brothers\u2019 own statements, that they participated in the attack, it is not likely that Smollett\u2019s attorneys will try to prove they did not take part. That could perhaps lead the defense to contend that Smollett was the victim of a very real attack at the hands of the brothers, perhaps with the help of others, who now are only implicating the actor so prosecutors won\u2019t charge them, too.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>They $3,500 check could be key. While the brothers say that was their fee to carry out the fake attack, Smollett has offered a different and much more innocent explanation: that he wrote the check to pay one of them to work as his personal trainer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would assume the defense is going to zero in on that,\u201d said Joe Lopez, a prominent defense attorney not involved with the case. \u201cIf they texted messages regarding training sessions, checks he (Smollett) wrote them for training, photographs, the defense would use all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What they will almost certainly do is attack the brothers\u2019 credibility \u2014 an effort that will certainly include a reminder to the jury that the brothers are not facing the same criminal charges as Smollett, despite admitting to taking part in the staged attack.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cEverything Smollett is responsible for, they are responsible for,\u201d said David Erickson, a former state appellate judge who teaches at Chicago Kent College of Law and who is not involved in the case. \u201cThey participated and they walk away? What the hell is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Erickson said he expects prosecutors to confront that issue before Smollett\u2019s attorneys do, as they won\u2019t want to appear to be trying to hide something.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Smollett\u2019s career could take center stage. On one side, prosecutors could make the same point that <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jussie-smollett-music-police-us-news-eddie-johnson-fac8abf87fa4431aaf0e0abce6f67c22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">then-Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson made when he announced Smollett\u2019s arrest in 2019: that Smollett thought the attack<\/a> would gain him more fame and get him a raise on a hit TV show.<\/p>\n<p>But Lopez said the defense attorneys might ask the jury the same question he has asked himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow would that help him with anything?\u201d he asked. \u201cHe\u2019s already a star.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Two brothers stand at the center of the case that prosecutors will lay before jurors when the trial of Jussie Smollett begins this week. The former \u201cEmpire\u201d &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1064269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1064269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1064269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1064269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1064269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}