Jussie Smollett's defense attorney names a 'real victim' as the trial begins

Actor Jussie Smollett arrives Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for jury selection at his trial in Chicago © AP

As his trial in Chicago began, Jussie Smollett's defense attorney argued that his client was the victim of a genuine attack. Smollett could face prison time if convicted of fabricating a fabricated hate crime.

Smollett's attorney, Nenye Uche, denied allegations that the actor orchestrated a fabricated racist attack against himself in January 2019, stating the actor was innocent and a "true victim" as the trial began Monday in Chicago, Illinois.

Uche contended that Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo — two Nigerian brothers who admitted to being paid by Smollett to assault him – truly despised Smollett "for who he is as a person" and were "sophisticated, highly intelligent criminals."

"Jussie was not an attention seeker. Even his PR was enraged by this... "This is nonsense," the attorney stated.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb, on the other hand, contended that the evidence indicates Smollett staged a bogus hate crime against himself and even placed a rope "closer to his throat" to "make it look more like a lynching."

Smollett, according to Webb, was enraged with the producers of the show 'Empire' for failing to take an anonymous, threatening letter given to him seriously and organized a phony attack using the two brothers, whom he had previously met on set.

Smollett allegedly instructed the brothers to wear red hats and shout racial slurs and pro-Trump slogans in an apparent attempt to portray the incident as a racist attack by Trump supporters.

Chicago Police spent 3,000 man-hours investigating the claimed hate crime, and Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct — a felony that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Publish : 2021-11-30 11:34:00

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