As actor Jussie Smollett awaits punishment, his attorneys submitted a petition for a fresh trial or a modified verdict in his hate crime hoax case. According to the Washington Examiner, Smollett’s lawyers are claiming various pretrial mistakes and said the court violated Smollett’s Sixth Amendment rights by refusing to let the defense team ask questions, which the judge argued was required because it was such a high-profile case.
Mark Lewis, Smollett’s attorney, said, “The State failed to prove the Defendant guilty of the charges against him beyond all reasonable doubt and failed to prove every material allegation of the indictment beyond all reasonable doubt. As such, the Defendant now respectfully requests that his convictions be vacated or in the alternative, that the Court grant the Defendant a new trial.”
Defense attorneys contend that the trial judge made the wrong choice when certain possible jurors were removed because of their race and that the trial was not genuinely “public” because journalists and members of the public were not permitted in the courthouse because of the pandemic.
The jury heard from 14 witnesses over six days. Police and prosecutors believe Smollett paid for and staged the attack because police failed to act on a hate-filled letter he allegedly received before the incident. The letter was sent to the studio where Empire was being shot and Smollett reportedly planned to utilize the attack’s video footage for publicity, however, the event was not recorded.
Smollett’s sentencing is set for March 10, with each offense having a maximum term of three years in prison, potentially putting him behind bars for a total of 15 years.
