A Cook County decide Thursday unsealed information in Jussie Smollett’s legal case.
Judge Stephen Watkins, who presided over a March listening to the place prosecutors abruptly dropped their case in opposition to Smollett for allegedly faking a hate crime assault close to his Streeterville dwelling, dominated in favor of a request from media teams, together with the Chicago Sun-Times, to make public all information in Smollett’s case.
Records in Smollett’s case have been sealed, on the request of his legal professionals, on the identical March listening to the place prosecutors dropped all disorderly conduct prices in opposition to the actor, with prosecutors on the time stating solely that Smollett had agreed to forfeit $10,000 he’d posted as bond and citing his neighborhood service historical past.
Smollett would proceed to proclaim his innocence, whereas State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her workers characterised the unorthodox decision of his case as an “alternative prosecution” deal. Police companies, studying the sealing order to incorporate investigative and different recordsdata associated to Smollett’s arrest, likewise, had denied public information requests for data.
State regulation that took impact in 2018 permits for the “immediate seal” of information in circumstances the place prices are dismissed, and Smollett’s legal professionals have maintained that the star is entitled to the identical privateness rights as any individual. But legal professionals for media organizations mentioned that the regulation was meant to guard defendants from having arrests linger on their legal information, whereas Smollett’s case was the topic of nationwide information protection — together with appearances by Smollett’s legal professionals.
Watkins mentioned that Smollett’s demand for privateness was contradicted by his media appearances earlier than he was charged and after the case was dropped.
“Smollett voluntarily appeared on national television speaking about the incident in detail,” Watkins mentioned, studying from a written courtroom order. “After the March dismissal, he stood in front of numerous cameras… in the courthouse lobby speaking about the case.”
“These are not the actions of a person seeking simply to maintain his privacy or simply to be let alone.”
The courtroom recordsdata in Smollett’s case are seemingly pretty skinny; the fees within the case have been dropped simply weeks after he was formally charged.