BIG: Jussie Smollett Court Documents to be Unsealed
Richard Moorhead
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Court documents pertaining to the dropped charges against ‘Empire’ actor and suspected hate hoaxer Jussie Smollett are set to be unsealed by June 3rd, according to an Illinois Judge’s Thursday ruling.
The documents had previously been sealed when Smollett got off easy, receiving a slap on the wrist from prosecutors. The actor was suspected of paying two brothers to stage a fake hate crime against him, in which he was supposedly doused with bleach and racially abused.
Chicago Police determined that he organized the entire hoax, paying the Osundairo brothers to play the role of hateful Trump supporters. Prosecutors dropped charges in return for mere hours of “community service” on behalf of Smollett, sealing documents relating to his prosecution.
However, Judge Steven G. Watkins of the Circuit Court of Cook County has determined that the court documents pertaining the case are appropriate for the public domain because of Smollett’s public discussion of the case.
In his decision to unseal court records, Judge Watkins said that Smollett “voluntarily stood in front of cameras from numerous news organizations in the courthouse lobby and spoke about the case. These are not the actions of a person seeking to maintain his privacy or simply be let alone.”
Smollett’s dramatic hate hoax possibly represents the most well-organized and detailed fake hate crime in recent memory, beating out a deluge of fake hoaxes perpetrated by progressives since Donald Trump’s election.
Chicago Police had expressed frustration over seeing Smollett walk free after what they determined to be shameless self-promoting conduct. Now, it appears that Smollett will at least face a degree of public accountability from the release of court records, which will possibly document the suspected hoax in detail not yet reported.
Court documents could detail Smollett’s transactions with the Osundairo brothers, who have since all but admitted their involvement in the hoax. Smollett could find himself in a deep hole in an ongoing City of Chicago lawsuit seeking to recoup costs of the hate crime investigation.
Smollett faced a small degree of accountability when his network television show was canceled. Now, with court records set to become public, he could be finally held responsible in the greatest extent possible outside a criminal court of law.
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