Jussie Smollett, the former “Empire” star who has been accused of staging a hate crime against himself, got some good news in court on Monday when a judge granted his attorneys more time to prepare legal arguments.
Fox News reported that Cook County Judge James Linn gave Smollett’s lawyers more time to prepare their case, including whether a key witness’s previous battery conviction can be introduced at trial. The judge then scheduled the next hearing for August 26.
However, the judge also made a point of telling Smollett’s legal team and the special prosecutor’s office to prepare themselves for a trial or other resolution to the charges that the actor is facing.
Smollett, who is black and gay, claimed in January of 2019 that he was jumped by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him. He also claimed that they screamed “this is MAGA country,” a reference to former President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” After investigating his claims, however, police found that they believed that Smollett had staged the hate crime.
Smollett has since been charged with felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing false police reports about what happened. The Chicago Tribune reported that after his latest hearing, Smollett’s lawyers claimed that they have evidence to prove that he is innocent of the charges that he lied to police.
“Like many people in Chicago, when I first heard of the Smollett case … I was absolutely certain that he was guilty based on the media coverage,” said attorney Nenye Uche. “But I can say now categorically, looking at the evidence, hundreds of pages so far, and there are many, many more to look at, so far it’s obvious to us he’s absolutely innocent.”
Uche did not elaborate on this evidence any further, saying that it would only be revealed in court.
Uche was just the center of a legal dispute in this case, as Special Prosecutor Dan Webb claimed that he had a conflict of interest because he had spoken to the two men who Smollett allegedly hired to help him carry out the attack. While Judge Linn ultimately allowed Uche to continue on the case, he prohibited him from questioning the two brothers, Abinbola and Olabinjo Osudairo, should the case go to trial.
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