Actor, singer and hoaxer Jussie Smollett lied about a possible attack. He lied that two White men attacked him. He probably lied that the attackers said "Make America Great Again." He probably lied about everything -- and that's what the police concluded and it's also what the prosecution concluded despite Jussie's lie that he was cleared or exonerated. No such thing happened. Madeline Holcombe, Joe Sutton and Holly Yan (CNN) reports:
Prosecutors who dropped felony charges against actor Jussie Smollett over his report of a hate crime attack "have fundamentally misled the public on the law and circumstances surrounding the dismissal," an Illinois lawyers group said.
The way Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and her office resolved the case also was "abnormal and unfamiliar to those who practice law," wrote the Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association.
The scathing statement, issued Thursday, follows claims by Foxx and her top deputy, Joe Magats, that "alternative prosecution," like the resolution brokered in Smollett's case, is not uncommon and is available to all defendants, celebrity or not. Smollet, 36, agreed to forfeit $10,000 bail and complete community service in exchange for the dismissal of 16 charges alleging he'd orchestrated a fake racist, anti-gay attack on himself.
Further, Foxx and her office "falsely informed the public" that sealing the criminal case was "mandatory," the prosecutors' organization said. And a special prosecutor should have been appointed when Foxx, citing familiarity with a potential witness, recused herself from the case, the group insisted.
Ann noted that last week in "Kim Fox gets rebuked, Empire's ratings get even worse and Jussie may be hauled into civil court." It was a strong rebuke even if CNN buries the lead taking forever to note who issued the statement, the Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association.
Again, she has been rebuked. And Jussie has not been cleared. Rosemary Ross (THE WRAP) reports:
Jussie Smollett has neither been “found innocent” nor “exonerated” for filing an untrue police report that he was the victim of a hate crime, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in a commentary she wrote Saturday for theChicago Tribune.
“There was considerable evidence, uncovered in large part due to the investigative work of the Chicago Police Department, suggesting that portions of Smollett’s claims may have been untrue and that he had direct contact with his so-called attackers,” Foxx wrote.
He was not found innocent. he was not exonerated. So when Jussie claims he was "cleared," he was not.
When Taraji P. Henson declares, "Thank God the truth prevailed," she's got a loose grasp on the facts.
Far more aware than Taraji is Shelia O'Brien. Who? "Sheila O’Brien served for 16 years on the Illinois Appellate Court and nine years as a trial judge in St. Clair County and Cook County, practiced law and was an adjunct professor of law."
At THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE today, O'Brien explains:
This week, I will petition the courts to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her mishandling of the Jussie Smollett case. This is exhausting, but it has to be done.
We deserve answers. We deserve open court files. We deserve transparency in every case.
We deserve a state’s attorney who will treat the rich and the poor the same — not someone who will make decisions based upon who calls on the phone about it. Did our state’s attorney really remove herself from this case? We have a right to know.
We deserve a state’s attorney who will ask for full restitution for the money spent on cases — not someone who will waste our tax dollars.
We deserve a state’s attorney who will tell us what is happening — not seal the file so we can’t read it.
Jussie lied and he lied to the police and to the American people. There should be no forgiveness for that until he's able to admit what he did and ask for forgiveness. We should not paper it over and pretend it is no big deal. He lied. He lied for attention. He took his lies to the police. He took his lies to the media. He ridiculously proclaimed himself "the gay Tupac" when he isn't even "the gay Milli Vanilli." He lied and trashed Trump supporters with his lie. EMPIRE, Lee Daniels has said, is a show about bringing people together. Jussie's actions divided people. They continue to divide people. He is a liar. He needs to take accountability. He was someone many of us trusted before this. He betrayed our trust.
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Illustration is Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Early April Fool."