Jussie Smollett case: Hate-crime hoax case returns to Chicago courtroom - Chicago Sun-Times

A year after all charges against him in an allegedly staged hate crime attack were dropped, Jussie Smollett returned to a Chicago courthouse Monday.

The former “Empire” actor walked into the packed courtroom of Chief Cook County Criminal Courts Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. as he faced a special prosecution team led by former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb and pleaded not guilty to a new, six-count indictment charging him with falsely reporting he was the victim of a hate-crime attack near his Streeterville apartment on a frigid night in January 2019.

Martin assigned Smollett’s case to Judge James Linn, a former prosecutor and longtime judge at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse. Linn ordered Smollett released on his own recognizance, allowing the actor to walk out of the courthouse after he signed a written promise that he’ll appear at future court hearings. When he was arrested a year ago, Smollett surrendered to police and had to post $10,000 toward his $100,000 bail before walking out of Cook County Jail.

Webb had asked that Smollett be given a similar bond Monday, noting that Smollett forfeited the $10,000 at the last year’s hearing where charges against him were dropped just weeks after his arrest.

Smollett is expected to return to the courthouse for the next hearing in his latest disorderly conduct case, set for March 18 — one day after a primary election where State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is seeking a second term as four opponents are seeking to make the race a referendum on how her office handled Smollett’s case.

• Flanked by attorneys and supporters, former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walks out of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after pleading not guilty to a new, six-count indictment charging him with falsely reporting he was the victim of a hate-crime attack near his Streeterville apartment in January 2019, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walks into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for a hearing, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. A new indictment brought by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb charges Smollett with falsely reporting he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack near his Streeterville apartment in January 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Abimbola, left, and Olabinjo Osundairo walk with their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, center, into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, for a hearing for actor Jussie Smollett, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walks into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for a hearing, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. A new indictment brought by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb charges Smollett with falsely reporting he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack near his Streeterville apartment in January 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walks into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for a hearing, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. A new indictment brought by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb charges Smollett with falsely reporting he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack near his Streeterville apartment in January 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walks into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for a hearing, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. A new indictment brought by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb charges Smollett with falsely reporting he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack near his Streeterville apartment in January 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Abimbola, left, and Olabinjo Osundairo walk into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, for a hearing for actor Jussie Smollett, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walks into a courtroom for a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. A new indictment brought by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb charges Smollett with falsely reporting he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack near his Streeterville apartment in January 2019. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Flanked by attorneys and supporters, former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walks out of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after pleading not guilty to a new, six-count indictment charging him with falsely reporting he was the victim of a hate-crime attack near his Streeterville apartment in January 2019, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• The Osundairo brothers listen as their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Abimbola, left, and Olabinjo Osundairo listen as their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Attorneys Tina Glandian and William J. Quinlan, the defense team for actor Jussie Smollett, speak to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
• Attorneys Tina Glandian and William J. Quinlan, the defense team for actor Jussie Smollett, speak to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Monday morning, Feb. 24, 2020. Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Monday’s hearing came almost a year to the day from Smollett’s arrest last year. After the charges were dropped, the actor, who had performed a few hours of community service, had agreed to give the city the $10,000 he’d posted for bond.

Smollett’s lawyer, Tina Glandian, was defiant Monday as she spoke to reporters after the brief hearing.

Asked if the actor would agree to a plea deal, Glandian said, “I’m confident that he’s not entering any plea other than a not guilty plea.”

Walking at the center of a mass of a dozen relatives and supporters that screened him from the view of a wall of dozens of TV cameras, Smollett swept out of the courthouse without making a statement.

Webb also left the courthouse without speaking to reporters. The former U.S. Attorney had been appointed by Judge Michael Toomin six months ago to investigate whether to re-prosecute Smollett and to probe how the state’s attorney handled the case.

Webb announced new charges against Smollett two weeks ago, and issued a statement, saying that his investigation of Foxx’s office still is ongoing.

Smollett also faces a lawsuit in federal court, where the city of Chicago is seeking to recover the $130,000 spent investigating the case. His Los Angeles- and New York-based attorneys, Mark Geragos and Glandian, face a defamation suit filed by the the two brothers who claim to have been hired by Smollett to fake the attack.

The actor and his attorneys have steadfastly maintained his innocence, blaming the charges on a police investigation that quickly focused on the actor and overlooked witnesses who saw at least one other man leaving the area of the attack around the time Smollett said he struggled with two white men who hit him, looped a thin rope noose around his neck and poured bleach on him after taunting him with racist, homophobic remarks.

Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, musclebound brothers who had worked as extras on “Empire” and had served as personal trainers for Smollett, claim that Smollett planned the attack and paid them $3,500 to carry it out. Smollett claims that if the attack was a hoax, it was one that he had no involvement in plotting, and that the $3,500 check made out to Abimbola was for his services as a trainer. The actor also maintained that a string of cryptic emails between the two men was related to illegal drug purchases.

In an unusual move, the brothers arrived in the courtroom Monday to watch Smollett’s arraignment. “The brothers are sorry for their involvement and they’re going to do whatever they can,” their attorney Gloria Schmidt said.

Abimbola, left, and Olabinjo Osundairo and their attorney, Gloria Schmidt, enter the Leighton Criminal Courthouse Monday morning. Both men are expected to be key witnesses in the case against Jussie Smollett, who appeared Monday as well.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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