Approved ~~ MJM
Jussie Smollett and his team have argued that new charges related to his alleged Chicago attack last year should be tossed because they equate to double jeopardy. A judge has ruled otherwise.
In March 2019, the case against the former “Empire” star for allegedly staging the assault was initially dropped. However, 11 months later, Jussie was indicted by a special prosecutor in Illinois on six counts of lying to police.
Jussie says this violates his rights against double jeopardy, which prevents people from being punished for the same crime twice.
A judge, though, said his argument is invalid since the actor never went through the legal process, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“There was no trial in this case, there was no jury empaneled, no witnesses were sworn, no evidence was heard, no guilty pleas were ever entered … nothing like that ever happened,” Cook County Judge James Linn said of the 2019 case. “There was no adjudication of this case.”
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