The former Empire star has been found guilty on five of the six counts against him
: “Beyond that, it’s just plain wrong for Mr. Smollett… to outright denigrate something as serious, as heinous, as a real hate crime, to denigrate it and then make sure it involved words and symbols that have such horrible historical significance in our country.”in his defense, arguing that he made “many, many false statements” under oath, and that he “tailor[ed]” his testimony about his relationship and actions with the Osundairo brothers to fit surveillance footage.
Elsewhere, Webb highlighted Smollett’s refusal to turn over cellphone, medical records or DNA to police, citing privacy concerns. But some text messages between Smollett and Abimbola Osunddairo were entered as evidence, and Webb mentioned a potentially damning one where Smollett asked Abimbola for some help “on the low.
Webb even brought up an ostensibly small, but potentially telling detail from the night of the attack, with Smollett claiming he’d left his apartment in the middle of the night not to meet the Osundairos at a designated place, but because he needed to buy eggs.
In response to the prosecution’s argument that Smollett refused to hand over his cellphone, medical records, and DNA, Uche argued that the actor’s privacy concerns were legitimate and he eventually did turn over DNA to the FBI: “He wasn’t hiding anything,” Uche said. Uche also offered up a narrative alternative for the alleged Jan. 27 “dry run,” saying Smollett was actually just driving around the block smoking weed.
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