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American actor Jussie Smollett was released from jail on the night of March 16. This was thanks to Illinois state appellate court's decision to let him go free while his attorneys appealed his conviction for staging a hate crime.
The 39-year-old left the Cook County Detention Center in Chicago without a word and was flanked by five large men before he got into a light-colored SUV around 8 p.m. local time.
Jussie Smollett's conviction and release
During the six days he spent behind bars, lawyers reported that Smollett drank only ice water and did not eat any food. This was after being sentenced to five months in prison for being convicted of five counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to the police.
Smollett's attorneys argued that he was unconstitutionally charged twice for the same crime after charges against him were dropped in 2019. These charges were connected to an alleged false report published in 2018 about bigoted supporters of former President Donald Trump attacking him with bleach and a noose.
A year later, new charges against him were filed under the state's disorderly conduct law after a special prosecutor looked into the case amid national outrage.
The jury then ruled that the former Empire actor had hired two men to beat him up to influence his public image.
Why was Jussie Smollett released from jail?
On March 14, Smollett's lawyers filed an emergency motion to postpone his sentence. An appellate judge determined that because Smollett was convicted of "non-violent" offenses, the court would allow his release on a $150,000 bail bond.
According to the agreement, Jussie Smollett would not owe money unless he skipped his court dates, so he wouldn't have to dig into his pockets.
According to Uche and three other defense lawyers, the second case was unconstitutional and "racist" due to Smollett's complaint about purported white attackers.
“Multiple false reports are made against black men all over the country. Nobody cares. We’ve been complaining about the disparate treatment of African Americans in the judicial system. Should black men be walked into jail for a class 4 felony? Shame on you if you think they should.”
Prosecutor Dan Webb opposed Smollett's release, claiming that there was no emergency that should warrant the stay of sentence.
In response to Smollett's motion for release, Webb wrote that the actor failed to furnish any real proof of the danger, arguing that his arguments were "cursory and woefully undeveloped."
Lawyers argued that due to his immunocompromised state and threats he had received over his high-profile conviction, Smollett was at risk of contracting COVID-19 in jail.
Jussie Smollett was kept away from other inmates following the March 14 motion and moved to a jail cell with surveillance. Uche confessed that the actor's experience was so traumatic that he ‘‘nearly lost faith in our justice system and couldn’t eat."
During the trial, the actor maintained his innocence, telling the court he might be killed in jail during an outburst at his sentencing.
Jussie Smollett will be scheduled for his next court appearance when his defense lawyers submit a non-emergency appeal.
