{"id":2113615,"date":"2023-12-01T16:23:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T21:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-orders-jussie-smollett-back-to-jail-for-hate-crime-hoax\/"},"modified":"2023-12-01T16:26:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T21:26:15","slug":"court-orders-jussie-smollett-back-to-jail-for-hate-crime-hoax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-orders-jussie-smollett-back-to-jail-for-hate-crime-hoax\/","title":{"rendered":"Jussie Smollett ordered back to jail for hate crime hoax"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Fcourt-orders-jussie-smollett-back-to-jail-for-hate-crime-hoax%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=2113615&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--><h2>Appeals Court Upholds Jussie Smollett&#8217;s\u200b Convictions for Hate Crime Hoax<\/h2>\n<div>\n<figure><figcaption>Getty \u2062Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>An appeals court on Friday ordered actor\u2062 Jussie Smollett to serve\u2062 out the \u2064rest of the sentence he received \u200dfor convictions stemming from his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/juror-on-smollett-case-speaks-out-we-all-thought-we-were-doing-jussie-a-favor\/\" title=\"Juror On Smollett Case Speaks Out: \u2018We All Thought We Were Doing Jussie A Favor\u2019\">2019 hate crime hoax<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Illinois\u200b Appellate\u2062 Court \u200cupheld the convictions 2-1\u2062 after Smollett challenged the appointment \u2062of a special prosecutor, jury selection,\u200c and other\u200d aspects\u200d of the case, the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jussie-smollett-illinois-appeal-3eaacedbf9b11cc97115ed37212adf29\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A jury convicted Smollett in December 2021 on five counts of\u2064 disorderly conduct\u2014which \u200dcan be levied in Illinois for lying to the police\u2014after\u200c authorities said he lied about being attacked by two Trump-supporting men in\u2063 ski masks who targeted him for being black \u2062and gay.<\/p>\n<p>It \u2062turned out that Smollett had paid two Nigerian brothers to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox5dc.com\/news\/brothers-in-jussie-smollett-hoax-break-silence-say-actor-wanted-to-be-poster-child-for-activism\">stage<\/a> the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Smollett, \u2063known for \u200bhis\u2063 role in the show <em>Empire<\/em> and \u2063as a \u2064child actor in <em>The Mighty Ducks<\/em>, served six days of his 2022 sentence of 150 days in \u2062jail before\u200b he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/chicago\/news\/jussie-smollett-conviction-upheld-by-illinois-appeals-court\/\">appealed<\/a> his conviction.<\/p>\n<p>His attorneys argued that Smollett faced prosecution for the\u2063 same crime twice because he agreed to perform community service and forfeit the $10,000 he paid in bond when Cook County prosecutors dropped the charges against him.<\/p>\n<p>A judge later overturned that deal, \u200chowever, \u200band appointed a\u200c special prosecutor for Smollett&#8217;s case, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/chicago\/news\/jussie-smollett-conviction-upheld-by-illinois-appeals-court\/\">according<\/a> to CBS\u2062 News.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200d court ruled that prosecuting him again was &#8220;not fundamentally unfair.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Several Democrats believed \u2063the hoax when reports of it first surfaced in January 2019.<\/p>\n<p>President \u200dJoe Biden \u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeBiden\/status\/1090422326783606784?lang=en\">said<\/a> \u2063 on X, then Twitter, months \u200dbefore he announced his 2020 campaign, that what happened to \u2064Smollett &#8220;must never be tolerated in this country.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Vice President \u200dKamala Harris, who had just announced an eventually unsuccessful run for president, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kamalaharris\/status\/1090361495119187969?s=21?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">called<\/a> the incident \u200b&#8221;an\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/near-death-experiences-a-look-back-at-famous-figures-whose-claims-drew-criticism\/\" title=\"\u2018Near-Death\u2019 Experiences: A Look Back At Famous Figures Whose Claims Drew Criticism\">attempted modern day lynching<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What\u2064 arguments did Smollett&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russian-court-rejects-wnba-star-brittney-griners-appeal-of-9-year-prison-sentence\/\" title=\"Russian Court Rejects WNBA Star Brittney Griner's Appeal of 9-Year Prison Sentence\">defense team present<\/a> \u200cin their appeal of the convictions,\u200b and\u200d how did the appeals court \u2062respond?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Er 2019 of staging a hate crime attack against himself in Chicago. He claimed that\u2062 two men assaulted him, poured bleach on him, and put a noose around his neck, all while shouting racist \u200cand homophobic slurs. \u200dHowever, evidence \u2064later emerged that Smollett had orchestrated\u2064 the entire incident,\u200b allegedly \u2064as a publicity stunt to advance his career.<\/p>\n<p>Following \u2062his conviction, \u200dSmollett was \u2062sentenced to serve two \u2062years of probation \u2063and to perform 250 hours of\u200d community service. He was also ordered\u200b to \u200bpay restitution to the city of Chicago to cover the costs of \u2063the investigation, \u2062totaling over $130,000.<\/p>\n<p>Smollett&#8217;s legal\u200d team immediately appealed the convictions, arguing that his rights had \u2062been violated \u2064during\u2063 the trial. They claimed\u200b that a special prosecutor should not have been \u200bappointed, as the original prosecutor had recused herself due to contact\u2064 with\u2064 a potential witness. \u200dHowever, the\u200d appeals\u200d court disagreed and affirmed the \u200ddecision to appoint a\u2062 special prosecutor.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Smollett&#8217;s defense\u2062 team argued that the jury selection process \u200dwas flawed\u200b and that the trial judge \u2063had made \u200bcertain errors \u200cin allowing \u2064or disallowing certain\u200c evidence. Again, the appeals court found that these arguments lacked merit and upheld \u2064the convictions.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors maintained that Smollett had intentionally \u200cmade\u2063 false statements to law enforcement and\u200b had staged the hate crime for\u200c personal gain. They presented evidence, including \u200ctext messages and \u200csurveillance\u200d footage, that undermined his claims of innocence. The jury, after considering all the evidence, found him guilty on all charges.<\/p>\n<p>In\u2062 response to the appeals\u200b court&#8217;s decision, Smollett&#8217;s\u200c attorney issued a statement \u200dexpressing disappointment and vowing to continue fighting for\u2064 justice. They maintained that\u200c Smollett&#8217;s rights\u2062 had been violated and that the evidence \u200dagainst him was weak.<\/p>\n<p>This case has\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-dakota-gov-noem-endorses-trump-the-fighter-that-our-country-needs\/\" title=\"SD Gov. Noem backs Trump: 'The fighter our nation needs'\">garnered significant \u2063attention<\/a>, not only because of Smollett&#8217;s \u200dcelebrity status but also \u200cbecause it touched on issues \u2062of hate crimes, racial tensions, and the credibility \u2063of victim testimonials. The fact\u200c that Smollett would \u200ballegedly\u200b stage\u200b such\u200d a hate\u2063 crime\u2064 hoax \u200dfor personal\u2062 gain has \u200craised\u200d questions about\u2062 the\u2063 potential\u200b damage to genuine\u2062 victims who may\u200c face\u2062 increased\u2064 skepticism as a result of incidents like this.<\/p>\n<p>While Smollett&#8217;s legal \u2063battle may\u2062 continue, the appeals court&#8217;s decision stands as a reminder that even celebrities are not immune to the consequences of\u2062 their actions. \u200bThe upheld convictions confirm\u2063 that justice was served in this\u200c case and \u2064send a strong message that\u2064 hate crime\u200b hoaxes will not be\u200d tolerated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jussie-smollett-illinois-appeal-3eaacedbf9b11cc97115ed37212adf29\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jussie-smollett-illinois-appeal-3eaacedbf9b11cc97115ed37212adf29<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Actor Jussie Smollett has been ordered by an appeals court to complete his remaining sentence for his 2019 hate crime hoax. The Illinois Appellate Court upheld his convictions 2-1, dismissing his challenges regarding the special prosecutor&#8217;s appointment, jury selection, and other case aspects<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2112,"featured_media":2113616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2113615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113615","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\/2112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2113615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2113616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2113615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2113615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2113615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}