Attorneys for Jussie Smollett, who is now awaiting sentencing for perpetrating a hate crime hoax, filed a motion Monday for a change in the verdict or a new trial.
for perpetrating a hate crime hoax, filed a motion Monday for a change in the verdict or a new trial., while acquitting him of the sixth count. Prosecutors had charged Smollett with staging a fake racist and homophobic attack against himself in January 2019, and then lying to police about it, in a bid for publicity.The charges for which Smollett was convicted dealt with his falsely telling several different police officers he was the victim of a hate crime and a battery.
The filing took issue with what it called pre-trial errors that were not addressed by the court in Smollett’s trial. Attorneys for Smollett in particular claimed that the trial judge violated Smollett’s Sixth Amendment rights by “prevent the defense from “actively participating in jury selection,” and also made the wrong ruling when defense attorneys argued that some prospective jurors had been excluded at prosecutors’ request based on their race.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, had told police he was attacked as he was walking home on Lower North Water Street around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2019. He claimed two masked men – one of them also wearing a red hat – shouted racist and homophobic slurs as they beat him, put a noose around his neck, and poured a chemical on him. Police and, paying two brothers – Abel and Ola Osundairo – $3,500 to help stage the attack.
Police said Smollett orchestrated the plan because of an anonymous hate-filled letter sent to the studio where “Empire” was filmed – and said Smollett did not think the threat was taken seriously.with Smollett taking the stand in his own defense“To answer all your questions about the hoax, I am going to deny. There was no hoax,” Smollett told Webb during cross-examination.
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