The jury has come back with a guilty verdict for Jussie Smollett on five counts of disorderly conduct for making false police reports in January 2019. They acquitted him on one count of felony disorderly conduct for reporting to Detective Robert Graves he was the victim of an aggravated battery.
The charges he was found guilty of were:
- First Count: Falsely reporting to Police Officer Muhammad Baig that he was the victim of a hate crime.
- Second Count: Falsely reporting to Officer Baig that he was a victim of an assault.
- Third Count: Falsely reporting to Detective Kimberly Murray that he was a victim of a hate crime.
- Fourth Count: Falsely reporting to Detective Murray that he was a victim of an assault.
One disorderly conduct charge for filing a false crime report is a Class 4 felony. It is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Now Cook County Judge Linn will be able to decide whether Smollett will be serving out a concurrent or consecutive sentence at a later date.
Smollett’s lawyer, Nenye Uche, stated that he “respectfully disagrees” with the jury’s verdict. He added that he felt “100% confident” that his client’s case will be won on appeal.
Smollett also believes that the verdict “will be reversed on appeal.” His attorney said, “At the end of the day, we believe justice will prevail. We don’t believe it was done today but we’re very confident that he will be cleared and he will be found to be innocent.”
The former “Empire” star could be given probation, however, Smollett “exposed himself to jail time” when he testified in court, according to CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. He added, “When you testify in a case, the judge now gets a sense of what you said… was resoundingly rejected by that jury. The jury did not buy what he was selling. That’s not lost upon a judge. You came into the courtroom and fabricated.”
Written by Sheena Robertson
Source:
CNN: Jussie Smollett found guilty of falsely reporting a hate crime; by Melissa Mahtani and Fernando Alfonso III
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