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Convicted felon and left-wing political activist Jussie Smollett thinks his guilty verdict will be overturn despite the jury’s recent decision in federal court.
The 39-year-old actor made a false police report and lied to police about being the victim of a racist and homophobic assault in Chicago, which never actually occurred.
The hoax was a political attack against Republicans and Trump supporters ahead of the presidential election. Smollett went to the Chicago police in January 2019 and falsely said that he had been assaulted by two people he described as white men who wearing MAGA hats.
Smollet told police that his attackers shouted racial and homophobic slurs and poured an unknown chemical substance on him, which was possibly bleach. If this wasn’t bad enough, Smollet also claimed they tied a noose around his neck.
The only problem is that police discovered that Smollett paid his attackers $3,500 in order to carry out the fake hoax and they are African American. The detailed evidence included phone records and texts between Smollett and his alleged hired attackers. One of the attackers claimed he also had a sexual relationship with Smollett, who is openly gay.
In response to the verdict, Smollett’s attorney Nenye Uche confirmed his client is “100 percent confident” that he would be found innocent on appeal.
“We feel 100 percent confident that this case will be won on appeal,” Uche said. “Unfortunately, that’s not the route we wanted but sometimes that’s the route you have to take to win, especially a case where we remain 100 percent confident in our client’s innocence.”
“He’s a human being; he’s disappointed — but I will tell you this: I am very proud of him. I’m very, very proud of him,” he added.
“He’s holding up very strong; he’s committed to clearing his name and he’s 100 percent confident that he’s going to get cleared by the appellate court.”
“Jussie was not accused of doing two different things and he was accused of doing one thing, and charged multiple times for the same incident, a jury cannot come out and say guilty of lying, but not guilty of lying,” Uche continued, “It doesn’t make sense.”
Jussie Smollett decided to testify in his own defense at court, but legal experts say it was “bizarre” and “an unparalleled disaster.”
Former U.S. attorney Neama Rahmani said, “Smollett testifying in his own defense is one of two things, or maybe both: a narcissistic criminal defendant who is doubling down on his charged lies to law enforcement or defense attorneys who know they are way behind and are throwing a low probability Hail Mary to try to get their client off.”
“Either way, Smollett’s story was a bizarre attempt at forcing a square peg into a round hole by offering every possible explanation for the state’s digital evidence except the most obvious one: that he is guilty.”
“In the unlikely event he is acquitted, Smollett’s decision was a genius move. But it is far more likely that the jury sees through his ruse and Smollett is convicted. If so, the judge may sentence him to prison time for obstructing justice and perjuring himself on the witness stand.”
James White, another high-powered attorney who weighed in on the Smollett case, said the actor’s testimony was “an unparalleled disaster.”
“We are with you, Jussie,” then-candidate Joe Biden told Smollett leading up to the 2020 presidential elections.
“Homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts,” Biden added.
Kamala Harris, the Obama’s, Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats have also publicly supported Smollett.
