Jussie Smollett’s Legal Woes May Start Anew Now That This Judge is Going After Him

Before his current troubles with the law, Jussie Smollett enjoyed a fruitful acting and singing career. What more, he became an admirable figure because of his role in the show Empire. But all his achievements may soon go down the drain because of serious allegations against him.

While his name has been cleared last March, his case may be opened and tried again.

Retired Judge’s Request

Former judge Sheila O’Brien (left) also requested that State Attorney Kim Foxx be removed from the case along with the rest of her team

Seemingly unsatisfied by the Cook County court’s decision on the actor’s case, retired judge Sheila O’Brien just filed motions to get a special prosecutor to re-investigate the allegations against Smollett’s supposed staging of a hate crime against himself back in January. What more, she also requests that her case be heard by a different judge who isn’t affiliated with the Cook County courts.

In her motion, O’Brien also criticized how State Attorney Kim Foxx handled the case mentioning how the latter evaded the truth and prevented the press from covering the case. According to the retired judge, public attorneys such as those in Foxx’s team should be working for the people instead of Foxx’s disobedience of the law.

O’Brien’s request for a special prosecutor for Smollett’s case is set to be heard by the end of May. However, other Chicago judges have expressed their criticism about the former judge’s motion. They believe that it would only be a cause for conflict for the judges in the county.

Charges Dropped

Charges against the 36-year-old actor were dropped in March and he was only tasked to perform hours community service afterward.

Smollett was slapped with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to Chicago police about a racially-charged attack against him. While the media storm that followed the allegations seem to frame the story against the actor, all charges against him were eventually dropped with the judge opting for a different way to resolve the case less than a month later.

Cook County Judge Steven Watkins instead deemed it appropriate to accept Smollett’s defense team’s offer to forfeit his initial $10,000 bond to the court and do community service. He also made a comment about how cases shouldn’t be tried in the court of public opinion where Smollett, as his defense claims, has been vilified in. The decision has since been criticized by many concerned parties.

Jussie’s Alleged Crime

A picture of Smollett after the attack and a supposed security camera shot of its perpetrators

Everything started when the Empire actor reported receiving a death threat on the set of his show and eventually being attacked by two masked men. According to him, he was on his way home when the two men began hitting him and shouting slurs at him.

However, police investigators found no footage of the crime itself except for the appearance of two hooded figures in a security camera. It was then suspected that Smollett may have paid the two men to stage the attack.