Breaking: Jussie Smollett Verdict Revealed
The jury has reached its verdict in the trial of Jussie Smollett.
According to ABC News, Smollett faced six counts of disorderly conduct “under a subsection of the law that prohibits false reports to police,” a class 4 felony.
The jury deliberated for over nine hours before reaching a verdict — Smollett was found guilty on five out of six counts.
The actor and singer, known for his work on the hit television series “Empire,” had allegedly staged a hate crime hoax against himself.
In January 2019, Smollett told police, along with the rest of the world, that two masked men attacked him on the street, yelling that Smollett was in “MAGA country” along with various racial and anti-gay slurs.
Eventually, it was discovered that the two men were actually of Nigerian descent and had previously worked with Smollett.
The brothers, Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, said that Smollett had hired them to help stage the hoax.
Smollett testified that he had previously had sexual relations with Abimbola, perhaps in a move to frame Abimbola’s motivation for the attack as one of a jilted lover.
However, the evidence appears to show the opposite.
According to The Associated Press, the brothers alleged the actor paid them $3,500 to help stage the crime and then instructed them to buy a rope (which Smollett alleged the attackers tied around his neck) and masks.
The brothers did buy these items and there is surveillance video of them doing so, the AP reported.
The brothers also testified that Smollett instructed them not to “hurt him too badly.”
This follows through — according to special prosecutor Dan Webb, Smollett did not suffer any major injuries from the alleged attack.
Smollett took the stand in his own defense during the trial, which led to several notable interactions with the prosecution.
Perhaps most notable was when Smollett implied that Webb was offending “every African-American in the room.”
The actor said as much after Webb read aloud Smollett’s own text messages, one of which had the n-word in it.
“Can you spell or say ‘the n-word’ out of respect for every African-American in this room?” Smollett asked, to which Webb replied “I don’t intend to do that, sir.”
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