U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Kendall dismissed former Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s countersuit against the Chicago police because a special Cook County grand jury re-indicted him.
Smollett alleged “he was the victim of a malicious prosecution over his allegedly staged hate crime attack in January 2019.”
From The Chicago Tribune:
In her 15-page opinion, Kendall wrote that if the new criminal case — brought by special prosecutor Dan Webb in February — were to end in Smollett’s favor, he would be free to refile his suit.But the judge indicated that such a claim would likely fail since police had plenty of evidence showing Smollett had staged the attack, including sworn statements from the phony attackers, brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo.“While Smollett alleges the statements were unreliable and self-serving, he ignores that there was additional evidence to corroborate the Osundairo Brothers’ statements, including suspicious texts between the parties and the deposit of a large check to Abel shortly before the attack,” the judge wrote.
Smollett claimed two men attacked him one late night in January 2019. He said the men used racial and homophobic slurs, poured bleach on him, and slung a noose around his neck.
His story pretty much unraveled from the moment he relayed it to the police.
The Chicago Police Department found evidence that pointed to a hoax, orchestrated by Smollett “from start to finish to bolster his career.”
Smollett had charges filed against him, but Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office dismissed the charges, which led to tensions between her office and the CPD.
Special Prosecutor Dan Webb is now looking into how everyone handled the case. His “special grand jury indicted Smollett in February on six counts of disorderly conduct alleging he lied to police about being the victim of the attack. Smollett has pleaded not guilty.”
Chicago has a lawsuit against Smollett. Officials want $130,000 in police overtime expenses.
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