Cincinnati Again on Edge After Charges The Chicago Tribune

Quondam "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett was convicted Thursday on charges he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself nearly iii years ago and then lied to Chicago police about information technology.

Smollett was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct  — for each separate time he was charged with lying to police in the days immediately after the declared attack. He was acquitted on a 6th count, of lying to a detective in mid-February, weeks after Smollett said he was attacked.

The jury deliberated for just over nine hours Wednesday and Thursday after a roughly one-week trial in which Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo testified that Smollett recruited them to fake the attack near his home in downtown Chicago in January 2019. They said Smollett orchestrated the hoax, telling them to put a noose effectually his cervix and crude him up in view of a surveillance camera, and that he said he wanted video of the hoax made public via social media.

Guess James Linn gear up a postal service-trial hearing for January. 27, and said he would schedule Smollett'due south sentencing at a later date. Hell-raising bear is a course 4 felony that carries a prison judgement of upward to iii years, but experts have said he probable will be placed on probation and ordered to perform community service.

More:Jussie Smollett constitute guilty of five counts of staging racist, anti-gay set on in Chicago, lying to police

Defence attorneys have suggested the Osundairo brothers were motivated to accuse Smollett of staging the hoax because they disliked him and saw an opportunity to make money. They suggested that after the ii brothers were questioned by police about the alleged attack, they asked Smollett for $i million each to not testify confronting him at trial.

Smollett's lawyers also have argued that Chicago law rushed to judgment when they brought charges against Smollett, and suggested a tertiary person may have been involved in the attack.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, take stressed they initially believed Smollett was a victim and that police "admittedly" didn't rush to judgment, former law detective Michael Theis said on day one of the trial. Abimbola Osundairo testified that Smollett asked him and his brother "to imitation beat out him up" and instructed them on how to carry out the alleged hoax. Olabinjo Osundairo backed his brother'due south claims.

Here is everything that happened during the weeklong trial:

Jussie Smollett timeline: A look back at the ex-'Empire' star's alleged attack, hoax claims

Day eight: Jussie Smollett plant guilty, attorney says he will entreatment verdict

In the court as the verdict was read, Smollett stood and faced the jury, showing no visible reaction. He and his family later left the courthouse without comment.

Outside court, special prosecutor Dan Webb called the verdict "a resounding message past the jury that Mr. Smollett did exactly what we said he did." Smollett "wreaked havoc here in the city for weeks on end for no reason whatever," then compounded the trouble by lying under oath to the jury, Webb said.

Defense force attorney Nenye Uche said Smollett would entreatment the conviction. He said Smollett was disappointed but "belongings up very strong," and is "committed to clearing his name." He expressed confidence the histrion would be cleared by an appellate court.

"Unfortunately nosotros were facing an uphill battle where Jussie was already tried and convicted in the media and then we had to somehow go the jury to forget or unsee all the news stories that they had been hearing that were negative for the last three years," Uche told reporters after the verdict.

Asked Thursday if Smollett could exist charged with perjury for lying on the witness stand, Webb said perjury charges "mostly" don't happen after a accused is convicted, simply that it was unclear what would happen in Smollett'southward case.

He likewise said the Chicago Police Department was vindicated by the jury's verdict.

"A lot of times people say, 'well, police officers sweep things under the rug,'" he said. "This police force department responded."

But Uche said Chicago constabulary should have investigated the example "much more than," and that there were some witnesses who were never interviewed.

Gloria Rodriguez, an attorney for Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, the brothers who testified against Smollett, said her clients "could non be more than thrilled and pleased with the results."

Chicago police force "got this one right," Gloria Rodriguez said.

Day seven: Jury begins deliberations afterward closing arguments

As the jury began deliberating Wednesday, they asked Judge Linn for a copy of a calendar prosecutors displayed at trial that indicated relevant dates, including that of the alleged attack and of what two brothers testified was a "dry run" for the Jan. 29, 2019, assail.

In his closing argument Wednesday, Webb told the jury that Smollett caused Chicago constabulary to spend enormous resources investigating what they believe was a false crime.

"Besides being against the law, it is just obviously wrong to outright denigrate something as serious as a real hate crime then make certain it involved words and symbols that have such historical significance in our country," Webb said.

He likewise accused Smollett of lying to jurors, saying surveillance video from before the declared assault and that night contradicts key moments of Smollett'south testimony.

Defense attorney Uche chosen the brothers "sophisticated liars" who may have been motivated to attack Smollett because of homophobia or because they wanted to be hired to work equally his security.

"These guys want to make coin," he said.

Webb questioned why Smollett didn't turn over his cellphone to police force or requite them a Dna sample or access to his medical records to assist with the investigation. Smollett testified he doesn't trust Chicago police, and that he was concerned nigh his privacy.

"If he was a true victim of a crime he would not be withholding bear witness," Webb said.

Uche called information technology "nonsense" for Chicago police to ask Smollett for his DNA when he was notwithstanding considered the victim of a criminal offense. He noted Smollett after provided DNA to the FBI for a separate investigation into hate postal service he had received at the "Empire" studio shortly before the declared assail.

"He wasn't hiding anything," Uche said.

Solar day half dozen: Defense rests, Jussie Smollett claims 'there was no fake set on'

Under cross-test past Webb, Smollett said Tuesday that a few days before the alleged attack he picked up Abimbola Osundairo in his car to get workout and that Osundairo'southward brother, Olabinjo Osundairo, came forth. Smollett denied the brothers' earlier testimony that they drove around together – circling the area where the alleged assault occurred three times – equally part of a "dry run" for the faux attack. He said circling the surface area was not unusual behavior for him, and that he called off the programme to work out because he didn't want to work out with Olabinjo Osundairo, whom he hadn't invited along.

Smollett, who was calm throughout hours of testimony with his defense chaser Monday, seemed to grow more than irritated during his exchanges with Webb on Tuesday, at ane point telling the veteran prosecutor he doesn't empathise the social media app Instagram. Webb's cross-exam also revealed some inconsistencies in Smollett's testimony, including most whether he sent private messages to confirm the timing of the declared assault and whether his attackers were white, as police force say Smollett told them.

When Webb asked Smollett if he sent private messages regarding the timing of the fake assault to Abimbola Osundairo using the app on the nighttime of the alleged attack Smollett responded, "there was no fake set on" and denied sending the messages. Afterwards Webb showed Smollett 4 messages that Smollett sent Abimbola Osundairo that night while the histrion was at an airdrome because his flight domicile to Chicago was delayed, Smollett told Webb: "If you say so, sir."

Smollett testified he was sending the messages to arrange a workout session, not a fake set on.

Of the declared attack, Smollett previously testified that when he turned to confront the person, a man hit him in the head and he cruel to the ground, where he said another homo kicked him before the attackers ran away. Asked past Webb Tuesday whether he's saying the brothers were his attackers, Smollett replied, "No, I don't know. There'south no manner for me to know that." Webb then asked if Smollett recognized the phonation of Abimbola Osundairo – who goes by Bola – during the incident.

"In that moment, I'1000 not going to finish and say, 'Hey Bola is that you?' " Smollett testified.

Day five: Jussie Smollett beginning takes the stand up, details alleged assault

Smollett told the jury he "came to terms with my sexuality" in his early 20s, when he got involved in clemency organizations, including a group that fights AIDS in the Black customs.

He said he auditioned for a role on "Empire" of a singer who is gay considering he had never seen a Black man portrayed that way. By Flavour five, Smollett said he was being paid $100,000 per episode.

Now, he said, "I've lost my livelihood."

Smollett said he met Abimbola Osundairo in 2017 at a social club, where he learned Osundairo likewise worked on the set of "Empire." He said the ii men did drugs together and went to a bathhouse, where Smollett said they "made out." Over time, he said the two men did more drugs together and participated in sex acts together. Abimbola Osundairo testified last week that he and Smollett didn't have a sexual relationship.

Smollett testified that he met Abimbola's brother, Olabinjo, but that they didn't speak and "he kind of freaked me out." He said Abimbola Osundairo made information technology seem like the men needed to "sneak off" when they were together effectually his brother. Smollett said he never trusted Olabinjo Osundairo.

On the day of the alleged set on, Smollett told jurors he was walking home after buying a sandwich when someone yelled to him about "Empire" and shouted a racist, homophobic remark. Smollett said the human being walked quickly toward him after the actor turned around to confront the person.

"I would like to think I landed a punch. But I don't know if it landed," Smollett said, telling the jury that the man hit his left temple. He said he slipped and they tussled on the ground for up to thirty seconds. Smollett said he saw a second person – who he believes kicked him on his side – as that person ran away.

Smollett said he assumed the person who attacked him was white because he used a racial slur and shouted it was "MAGA land." Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who are Black, testified last week that Smollett instructed them to yell "this is MAGA country."

Smollett said he picked up his phone and told the person he had been talking to that he "got jumped." He noticed he had a noose around his neck as he got up, grabbed his sandwich and went upwardly to his flat. Smollett said he removed the noose but a friend who was at his apartment called police force and told him to put the noose dorsum on and so officers could see it. Smollett said he was upset police force had been called considering he would never have done so.

"I am a Black human in America. I do not trust the police," Smollett said. "I am also a well known effigy at that fourth dimension and I am an openly gay man."

Under cross-test, Smollett said he refused to requite Chicago police force his cellphone for their investigation because he wanted his privacy. Asked past Webb if he was concerned the phone would show several calls to Abimbola Osundairo, Smollett said no.

Smollett also testified that Abimbola Osundairo told him he could get an herbal steroid that encourages weight loss only is illegal in the U.South." on the low" – or secretly – while he was on an upcoming trip to Nigeria.

Abimbola testified that Smollett sent him a text message about talking "on the low," and that during the conversation Smollett asked him about helping to stage the set on. Smollett said Mon that bulletin was in reference to the illegal steroid.

When Webb asked about Abimbola's testimony that Smollett recruited him for a hoax, Smollett replied: "Fully false, 100% false." He also said "absolutely not" when his defense chaser asked if he gave the Osundairo brothers $100 to pay for supplies for the fake attack.

Day 4: State rests, Olabinjo Osundairo describes 'crazy idea' to stage hoax

After a three-day presentation of bear witness, Webb told the presiding judge Thursday, December. 2 that the prosecution was finished. The defense began its case immediately, calling Brandon Moore, Smollett's music manager at the time.

Olabinjo Osundairo took the stand earlier in the day to echo his blood brother Abimbola's testimony the day before that Smollett requested they play assailants in the allegedly staged attack.

Olabinjo Osundairo said Smollett told him he received detest mail at the TV studio in Chicago "and he had this crazy idea of having two MAGA supporters attack him."

They opted to pour bleach on Smollett, Olabinjo Osundairo said, considering he wasn't comfy using gasoline. He said Smollett wanted his blood brother to do the punching, and that information technology should await similar he fought back.

Olabinjo Osundairo also addressed the defense's contention that the brothers were driven by homophobia. He testified that he has nothing against gays and the jury was shown a photo of the siblings taking part in Chicago's 2015 gay pride parade dressed as trojan warriors.

During cross examination, defense chaser Shay Allen asked Abimbola Osundairo, who worked every bit a stand-in on the Chicago set of "Empire," if he tried to get a $5,000-per-week job as Smollett'due south security and if after he was questioned by police and released he told Smollett he and his brother wouldn't bear witness at his trial if they were each paid $i million. Abimbola Osundairo responded "No sir" to both.

In follow-upward questioning past Webb, AbimbolaOsundairo said he never idea Smollett would go to the police to written report the fake assault equally a real hate crime. He said Smollett told him that he wanted to utilize it to generate media attention, and that he has never lied to Chicago police.

Olabinjo Osundairo told jurors he talked to police without a hope of immunity or under any sort of favorable deal. He added: "It was simply but to get the truth out of what happened that night."

Smollett's legal team asked Olabinjo Osundairo about his previous felony conviction, which he testified Thursday was in 2012, for aggravated battery. As a convicted felon he cannot legally possess a firearm, but police found several guns when they searched their dwelling house after the alleged assault. Both brothers agreed the guns belonged to Abimbola Osundairo.

The defense said the brothers lied about Smollett staging the attack to go out of trouble for possessing the firearms and heroin that was too found in the home.

Day three: Abimbola Osundairo testifies Smollett asked him, his brother to stage attack

Abimbola Osundairo testified Wednesday, Dec. i that Smollett asked him and his brother, Olabinjo, "to faux beat him up" and instructed them on how to carry out the alleged hoax. Smollett planned a "dry run" and gave him a $100 neb to buy supplies for the staged attack, Abimbola Osundairo said.

Abimbola said he and his brother agreed because he felt indebted to Smollett for helping him with his acting career.

AbimbolaOsundairo said that a few days prior to the set on, Smollett showed him some hate mail he said he received at the "Empire" studio. Jurors viewed the note, which included a drawing of a person hanging by a noose, with a gun pointed at the stick figure and the letters "MAGA."

He said a few days subsequently Smollett sent him a text message asking to meet upwardly "on the depression," which he took to come across in private nigh something secret. AbimbolaOsundairo said when they met up, Smollett asked him "to beat him upward" and asked if his blood brother could help.

"I was confused, I await puzzled," AbimbolaOsundairo said.

AbimbolaOsundairo said that prior to the staged attack, Smollett drove the brothers to the spot where the set on would occur. He also said Smollett said a camera in the area would tape the attack.

He also told jurors Smollett instructed him to dial Smollett but "not likewise hard." Once Smollett was on the ground, Abimbola Osundairo said Smollett said he should give Smollett "a bruise" and "requite him a noogie" — or rub his knuckles hard on Smollett's head.

AbimbolaOsundairo testified that he and his blood brother had difficulty identifying a good spot for the staged attack.

Co-ordinate to AbimbolaOsundario, when the brothers spotted Smollett at effectually ii a.thousand., AbimbolaOsundairo — as instructed earlier past Smollett — shouted a homophobic slur and his brother yelled, "this is MAGA country."

After punching Smollett in the face and throwing the player to the footing, they put a noose effectually his neck and threw bleach on him, then ran away, AbimbolaOsundairo told jurors.

The next morning time, as news broke of a hate offense against Smollett, AbimbolaOsundairo said he texted a note of condolence to Smollett, besides as instructed. It read: "Bruh, say it ain't true. I'yard praying for speedy recovery."

AbimbolaOsundairo testified that Smollett gave him a cheque for $three,500 and wrote on information technology that it was for a nutrition and workout program. But AbimbolaOsundairo said the money was both for the program and for helping to stage the attack.

Chicago police force detective Kimberly Murray testified that Smollett appeared "upset" when he was told that a surveillance camera did not record the alleged assault because information technology was pointed away from the scene. Murray said she explained to the actor that the cover on the pod camera makes it impossible to know which way it is pointing.

Murray, who interviewed Smollett the morning of the attack, said he told her he had received a threatening phone phone call days before, but he refused to paw over his cellphone, which the detective said could aid constabulary piece together a timeline of what happened, and he wouldn't consent to giving medical records or a DNA swab.

A detective who interviewed Smollett two weeks after the declared assault — and after the brothers had been arrested — said Smollett started to alter his story. Smollett told Robert Graves his assaulter had "pale pare," when he previously said that one was white. When Graves confronted Smollett near the discrepancy, Smollett said the assailant "acted like he was white by what he said."

Graves also told Smollett the two brothers were in custody for the detest law-breaking. "He said 'It tin can't exist them, they're black equally sin,' " Graves recounted, saying he took that to mean the brothers' skin is very dark.

Graves testified that during the Feb. xiv interview, Smollett said he would sign a complaint against the brothers, though his attorney stopped him from doing so. About 90 minutes later, Smollett sent one of the brothers a text message, Graves said.

"Brother... I love y'all. I stand with you lot," the message read. "I know 1000% yous and your blood brother did naught wrong and never would. I am making a argument so anybody else knows. They will not become away with this. Please hit me when they let you go. I'chiliad behind you fully."

24-hour interval 2: Prosecutors recount how Smollett orchestrated a hoax

Prosecutors began their case against Smollett Nov. 30, with one-time police detective Michael Theis testifying that he initially viewed the actor as a victim of a homophobic and racist attack and that police "admittedly" didn't blitz to judgment as Smollett's defence attorney alleged during opening statements.

Theis, who now is assistant director for research and evolution for the Chicago Police Section, said roughly ii dozen detectives clocked some three,000 hours on what they idea was a hate crime in Jan 2019. He said they were excited when they were able to track the movements of Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, using GPS, prison cell phone records and video evidence. Police found no case where they concluded the men were lying, he added.

"The crime was a hate crime, a horrible hate criminal offence," Theis said Tuesday.

Jussie Smollett is set for a November trial after Chicago approximate won't dismiss the case

More:Jussie Smollett faces offset of trial on charges of staging 2019 hate law-breaking attack

Jurors were likewise shown surveillance videoof the brothers buying supplies, including a red hat they told police Smollett wanted them to wear to resemble supporters of and so-President Donald Trump, and a piece of clothesline police said was afterward fashioned into the noose. Jurors too saw a notwithstanding image from a video that Theis said showed Smollett returning dwelling house the night of the alleged attack, with the clothesline draped around his shoulders. The clothesline was wrapped around his cervix when officers arrived, Theis said, leading detectives to believe Smollett may accept re-tied it.

Uche likewise suggested that a third attacker was involved. One area resident said she saw a white homo with "reddish brown hair" who appeared to be waiting for someone that night, according to police force reports. She told a detective that when the man turned abroad from her, she "could come across hanging out from underneath his jacket what appeared to be a rope."

Uche referenced the woman during his cross-examination of Theis, and Theis acknowledged that he saw that argument merely did not send a detective to re-interview her. He said the adult female had seen the human being a few hours before the alleged attack and that "the rope was a unlike color."

Uche too suggested the brothers were homophobic, asking Theis on cross-examination near a homophobic word one of the brothers used. Theis said there was a message containing a slur just that he doesn't know if that makes the homo homophobic. Uche besides asked Theis if he was aware i of the brothers attacked someone at the Idiot box studio because he was gay.

"One private said it happened, but I don't know that it happened," Theis said.

Day 1: Smollett's attorney says player is a 'real victim'

Uche said Nov. 29 that Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo attacked Smollett considering they didn't similar him and that a $iii,500 bank check the role player paid the men was for training and then he could prepare for an upcoming music video – not as payment for staging a hate crime, equally prosecutors criminate.

"Jussie Smollett is a real victim," Uche said.

Uche made his opening statement afterward special prosecutor Dan Webb told jurors that the actor recruited the brothers to help him carry out the fake attack. "When he reported the fake hate criminal offence that was a real criminal offence," said Webb.

Uche countered that Smollett had turned downward extra security when the studio offered it.

Webb said Smollett then "devised this false crime," holding a "dress rehearsal" with the two brothers.

Jussie Smollett: With criminal charges dropped, is his career ruined or can he recover?

'I miss him': How 'Empire' addressed writing off Jussie Smollett's graphic symbol

Uche portrayed the Osundairo brothers as unreliable, saying their story has changed while Smollett's has not, and that when police searched their home they establish heroin and guns. "They are going to prevarication to your face," Uche told the jury.

Exterior the courtroom, Smollett'southward blood brother said it has been "incredibly painful" for the family to scout Smollett be accused of something he "did not do."

Contributing: Maria Puente, Hannah Yasharoff, Jayme Deerwester, Pamela Avila and Charles Trepany U.s.a. TODAY; Don Babwin, Michael Tarm and Sara Burnett The Associated Printing

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/11/29/jussie-smollett-chicago-trial-everything-to-know/8790967002/

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