February 11, 2020

"A Cook County, Illinois, grand jury has returned a six-count indictment against actor Jussie Smollett for making false reports, a special prosecutor said Tuesday."

"Smollett, who is gay and black, he said he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack near his Chicago apartment on January 29, 2019," CNN reports.

59 comments:

Unknown said...

Good.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

We don't have double jeopardy anymore?

Better to indict the prosecutor.

Bilwick said...

Racists!

M Jordan said...

BadDubois ... you took the word right out of my mouth. Good.

danoso said...

Gay and black you say. Must be important.

MikeR said...

Now investigate the prosecutor's office that dropped all the charges.

Jim at said...

And yet how many people will poo-poo this and remember the original 'crime' instead?

Narayanan said...

Blogger Bill, Republic of Texas said...
We don't have double jeopardy anymore
____&&&&&

Was he arraigned before?
I'm not remembering!

Is arraignment enough for jeopardy or need to be trial?

PB said...

Ha ha! Now charge Foxx.

Stephen Taylor said...

"...We don't have double jeopardy anymore?..."

I am not a retired professor of constitutional law, but I always thought that double jeopardy only applied to an actual trial, not an indictment.

But I'm willing to be corrected.

And perhaps he ends up innocent. The legal bills will still break him. After all, as our friends in blue like to say, you might be the rap but you can't beat the ride........

The Vault Dweller said...

Most people in an around Chicago were upset about this whole situation. And it has become an issue in the district attorney's race in Cook County, since the current DA Kim Foxx's office dismissed the charges seemingly out of nowhere. Assuming he did it and is convicted I hope he spends 10-18 months in prison for it. I don't think double jeopardy will fly in this case since to my knowledge a jury was never impaneled in the first case.

As an aside, this article on CNN is one of the best written news articles I've seen in a long time. It is just the facts, in the perfect order of importance. It repeats the allegations of each side without biasing or favoring one side over the other. I would use this to teach young journalists how they should write news articles.

whitney said...

Rascists

buster said...

@ Narayanan: Jeopardy attaches when the jury is sworn in. In a bench trial, when the judge begins to hear evidence.

Gahrie said...

I am not a retired professor of constitutional law, but I always thought that double jeopardy only applied to an actual trial, not an indictment.

The only time you cannot be retried if the charges are dropped (as in this case) is if it is due to a court approved plea agreement, or a judges dismiss them with prejudice. Neither happened here.

Gahrie said...

Now investigate the prosecutor's office that dropped all the charges.

That is ongoing.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

justice for juicy.

too bad other leftwing liars won't face jail time. long list.

Mattman26 said...

Foxx is up for re-election and has several primary opponents, which probably means she survives.

JaimeRoberto said...

But he's a person of intersectionality! He was only telling his truth!

GatorNavy said...

He will walk. This is Chicago we are talking about here.

Ken B said...

Bill ROT is partly right. Foxx should be charged. I guess by his double jeopardy theory though she could charge herself then drop the charges and be immune.

Big Mike said...

He had a chance to get off for a wrist slap, but noooooo.

No sympathy here.

Amadeus 48 said...

Is this news from last year? I thought they already did that. (Heh)

Did CNN mention it was on a deserted street at 2:00 am when the wind chill was -25? And that the attackers were a couple of Nigerian guys? And that the police did a heroic job of piecing things together while Jussie did nothing but give them misdirection? And that he didn't drop his sandwich?

The bottom line here is that Jussie will plead guilty this time and become a corporate spokesman for Subway. ("The sandwiches are THAT good!") He'll serve his time by going to Chicago schools and giving talks on constructing an alibi that will stick. ("What I learned is don't use a check." (plays Charles Barkley video https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/02/22/charles_barkley_mocks_jussie_smollett_do_not_commit_crimes_with_checks.html))

Amadeus 48 said...

Things just keep getting better.

Narayanan said...

Blogger GatorNavy said...
He will walk
_____&&&&&
If he doesn't will that Tell something about election outcome?

wild chicken said...

"Most people in an around Chicago were upset about this whole situation"


Well goddamn, way to accuse Society of being violent racist homophobes, when more likely no one gaf.

Mark said...

Jeopardy never attached.

Jeopardy attaches when the jury is sworn in or, in a bench trial, when the first witness is called.

GatorNavy said...

Hello Narayanan

I believe you to be correct in your statement. Now, I shall pay attention to this sordid little affair. As for the election, Glenn Reynolds says, “Don’t get cocky”.

Browndog said...

Does this mean Chicago really isn't MAGA country?

Brent said...

"Remember what happened to that French Actor Jussie Smollet?"
Chappelle does.
https://youtu.be/wZXoErL2124

bagoh20 said...

February is looking like the month of justice. Innocent men acquitted, racist assholes indicted. Maybe we still know right from wrong after all. Now if we could just charge some of the traitors that tried to disenfranchise 63 million voters. The icing on the cake would be sending Queen Cankles to jail.

Francisco D said...

He will walk. This is Chicago we are talking about here.

As a former Chicagoan, my best guess is that he will be convicted and serve 30 days or less. If a harsher sentence were suggested then we would have jury nullification.

Farmer said...

As another former Chicagoan, I'm really glad I'm a former Chicagoan.

Seeing Red said...

This is a post from Conservative Treehouse:

Breaking reporting out of Chicago indicates a special prosecutor in Chicago has indicted hate hoax actor Jussie Smollett. The construct of the hate crime itself appeared to be connected to a DC scheme to advance the presidential ambitions of Kamala Harris who launched her bid for office simultaneously with the racially driven hoax.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I don't understand. If jeopardy only attached when a jury is sworn, then anyone with a plea bargain can be indicted again?

He and the prosecutor made an agreement. He would forfeit his $10,000 bond and the State would dismiss.

Maybe it was a corrupt bargain. But in that case indict him and the prosecutor for bribery.

Michael said...

“Smollett, who is gay and black, he said he was...”. Who writes like this? CNN

BUMBLE BEE said...

Hey... Check out Sundance!

Leland said...

He and the prosecutor made an agreement.

Not to prosecute. Did a judge (State) dismiss or the prosecutor drop charges? I think the answer will address the issue of double jeopardy.

Francisco D said...

As another former Chicagoan, I'm really glad I'm a former Chicagoan.

So am I.

Chicago used to be a great place to live, but not so much any more. Well, if you have a whole lot of money, the Gold Coast is nice ...

whitney said...

But, but, but, it's Black History Month. Insult to injury

FullMoon said...

Here is the video of his Good Morning America interveiw where he describes the horrible attack. Complete with tears. Remember, this was staged to support Kamala Harris' proposed anti-lynching law. He put on a pretty good performance here:Juicy Lies

Lucien said...

Bill ROT: Plea bargains involve a plea of guilty entered before a judge and judgement entered by the court, so jeopardy attaches in that way for the crimes involved. Prosecution agreements not to charge any other crimes are probably covered by the applicable rules of criminal procedure.

traditionalguy said...

The MSM are pushing the false narrative that Jussie did this dirty trick " to help his faltering career." That's a twofer in lies. #1 his career was not faltering at all.#2 he did it solely to help the Obama anointed Senator Kamala Harris's Presidential run.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Jim at said...

And yet how many people will poo-poo this...

Well, I can think of at least one person who went poo-poo when the indictment came back!

Danno said...

It's about fucking time. We live in a country where Jussie Smollett escapes a long overdue prosecution for 13 months for a very divisive hate-based crime, and a guy who is a merely a harmless political clown (Roger Stone) had prosecutors trying to nail him to the cross.

rhhardin said...

Nobody believed the story in the first place. It ought to be simple filing a false police report.

walter said...

Browndog said...Does this mean Chicago really isn't MAGA country?
--
It proves that it IS!

walter said...

(So he will say)

Clyde said...

Obviously being gay and black is not enough to give a person carte noir* to make false hate crime claims with impunity. Perhaps Smollett needs to tick off another box by converting to Islam or something.

* - "Carte blanche" is obviously racist!

TJM said...

Will Moochelle Obozo interfere again or has she shot her wad on this one?

Kathryn51 said...

"As an aside, this article on CNN is one of the best written news articles I've seen in a long time. It is just the facts, in the perfect order of importance.

Just the "facts"???? No mention of wearing MAGA hats or the specific racist comments alleged? I call this a whitewash of the venality of Smollet's allegations.

chickelit said...

I thought the Obamas got him off the hook? Why is this poor man still being prosecuted?

Anonymous said...

I think the charges are different

Anonymous said...

CNN Mar 26 2019:

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office released little about why it abandoned the 16 felony disorderly conduct charges, except to say it came after reviewing the case's facts, and that the actor agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond. Parts of the case will be sealed, one of

CNN Fev 11 2020

"Based on the recommendation of the OSP (Office of the Special Prosecutor), a Cook County grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging Jussie Smollett with making four separate false reports to Chicago Police

walter said...

" No mention of wearing MAGA hats or the specific racist comments alleged? "
A hate crime or incitement.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"Smollet, who is gay and black, says he is a victim....."

How can you not be a victim today if you are gay/minority/female Liberal?

...isn't victimhood an essential part of your being?

tomfromchicago said...

"You see, Juicy Smollett is gay and he's black, not just French!"

tastid212 said...

L'il Kim certainly has some 'splainin' to do.
Meanwhile over at DOJ, four prosecutors withdraw from the Stone case after higher-ups want a more lenient sentence.
Compare and contrast.

Robert Cook said...

I guess one could it is ironic that the fraud perpetrated by an actor in order to aggrandize his career has tanked that career and may place the actor in a new role: prisoner.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"The MSM are pushing the false narrative that Jussie did this dirty trick " to help his faltering career." That's a twofer in lies. #1 his career was not faltering at all.#2 he did it solely to help the Obama anointed Senator Kamala Harris's Presidential run."

Exactly right. The Chicago police superintendent, widely seen as on the right side of this, was the first that I know of to propound that nonsense. The "attack" was a political dirty trick against MAGA-Americans. Dems are only upset because it didn't work.