Jussie Smollett is looking to have another day in court in the 2019 hate crime hoax case he was found guilty of orchestrating last year.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the Empire actor’s legal team filed new documents in Chicago to get Jussie a new trial, citing issues with the jury selection process –– but they’d also take a not guilty verdict.
The team specifically asked a judge to reverse the jury’s verdict, to find the 39-year-old not guilty of disorderly conduct for making a false police report or to grant him a new trial altogether.
If you recall, back in December 2021, Jussie was found guilty on five out of six counts for making up a hate crime attack in which he claimed that he was called racial and homophobic slurs and had bleach poured on him.
Now, Jussie’s legal team is claiming that his lawyers weren’t able to question potential jurors and that the pool of jurors was tainted. They’re also accusing prosecutors of racism in their picks for the jury.
The documents also accused the judge of wrongfully banning media and the public from the courtroom during the trial and that prosecutors pressured witnesses into giving false testimony. Lastly, the defense team says the judge didn’t allow them the same amount of time to question witnesses.
After the verdict came down, Jussie’s lawyers vowed to appeal the decision, so now they’re following through.
On Friday (February 25) Judge James Linn ruled that media could be in the courtroom for Jussie’s sentencing hearing scheduled for March 10. Jussie faces a maximum of three years in prison, but a lighter sentence could be handed down given his lack of criminal history.
