Thursday, April 4, 2019

Jussie's Very Bad Day - Updated

Will Jussie Smollett pay the city of Chicago $130,000 and change to cover the costs of investigating his hate crime hoax? My guess is no, but today's the deadline. If he doesn't pay, will the city sue? My guess? Yes. Mayor Rahm Emanuel isn't a marshmallow and he isn't a pushover. (When the letter was sent, Rahm suggested Jussie write "I'm accountable for the hoax" in the memo section of the check.) He's also leaving office in May, which makes him possibly less worried about the political repercussions of a lawsuit than if he was going to continue to be the mayor. This is from CNN:

In a letter sent to the "Empire" actor on March 28, the city's corporation counsel said that if he didn't pay in the next seven days, he might be prosecuted using Chicago's municipal code or other legal remedies.

"The city feels this is a reasonable and legally justifiable amount to collect to help offset the costs of the investigation," city spokesman Bill McCaffrey said.

The letter was sent after a prosecutor unexpectedly dropped 16 felony disorderly conduct charges against Smollett, who was accused of staging the attack on himself. (Read more here.) 

 NBC News in Chicago says a lawsuit is "likely" if Jussie doesn't pay up:

Nonpayment will likely prompt the city to sue Smollett, prompting a civil trial where standards for proving he staged the incident will be lower than in criminal court. (Read more here.) 

 Chicago's mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot, who like Mr. Smollett is black and gay, appeared on MSNBC last night: 

Chicago’s new mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot still has questions about why the charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and has called on the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to provide more information about why the case against the actor was abandoned.

“The State’s Attorney’s office here which made the decision unilaterally to drop the charges has to give a much more fulsome explanation,” Lightfoot said during an interview with Craig Melvin on MSNBC Wednesday. “We cannot create the perception that if you’re rich or famous or both that you got one set of justice — and for everybody else it’s something much harsher. That won’t do and we need to make sure that we have a criminal justice system that has integrity.”

When asked point blank by Melvin about whether she thought Smollett was innocent, Lightfoot hedged but said the evidence did not suggest that conclusion.

“I believe that everybody is entitled to a presumption of innocence,” she said. “But I saw — as I’m sure you and your listeners saw — a very compelling case, with video tapes, witness statement and other information that looked like he had staged a hoax, and if that happened he’s got to be held accountable.”

Reps for Smollett declined to comment. Reps for Foxx did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The remarks from Lightfoot, who will become the first black woman and first openly gay woman to serve as Chicago’s mayor suggest, that focus will not let up on the Smollett case even after Rahm Emanuel leaves office. In his final days on the job, Emanuel railed against the decision by Foxx to drop all charges against Smollett. In an angry press conference last month, Emanuel called the move a “whitewash of justice.”

“Do I think justice was served? No,” he said. “I’ve heard that they wanted their day in court with TV cameras so America could know the truth. But no, they chose to hide behind secrecy and broker a deal to circumvent the judicial system … I stand behind the detectives’ investigation.” (From Yahoo News, read more here.)

Will Jussie cave and cough up the money, in effect acknowledging that he staged the attack, or will he call Rahm's bluff and gamble that he won't get sued? Either way, I feel safe in saying that once again, Jussie Smollett is not having a good day.

 Thursday night update. Jussie didn't pay:







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