The ‘Empire’ alum, who claimed to be attacked in Chicago in 2019, was found guilty on 5 of 6 charges
Jussie Smollett has been found guilty on 5 out of 6 charges in the alleged hate crime hoax trial.
After a contentious week of witness testimony, counsel arguments and deliberation, the jury found Smollett guilty on the first five counts and he was acquitted on a sixth count, of lying to a detective in mid-February, weeks after Smollett said he was attacked.
SMOLLETT GUILTY. Standby on how many counts
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) December 9, 2021
Smollett remained stoic as the jury read the verdict. The actor sat upright and stared straight ahead without showing any real emotion.
Judge Linn said he will order a pre-sentencing investigation and attorneys will meet via conference call to determine a date for pre-sentencing motions
The judge also said the jury will not be speaking to the media today, if they ever choose to. He is also having deputies escort them to their cars.
The 39-year-old “Empire” alum was charged with six counts of disorderly conduct related to false statements to Chicago police officers in regard to a 2019 hate crime against himself. In 2019, he claimed that two men attacked him due to his skin color and sexual orientation.
Since being accused of staging the attack, Smollett has maintained his innocence and said during his two-day testimony that “there was no hate crime hoax from my standpoint.”
Prosecutors, however, argued that Smollett carried out a “dry run” of the attack the day before it occurred in 2019.
Among the surprising claims made in Smollett’s testimony was the revelation that the actor received a text from CNN’s Don Lemon, supposedly relaying information that the Chicago Police Department didn’t believe Smollett’s account of what happened.
By Julius Young
