Jussie Smollett’s lawyers argue for actor’s release pending appeal
CHICAGO — Jussie Smollett’s attorneys want a state appellate court to release the actor from jail while his appeal is pending, according to recent court filings arguing that Smollett’s time in custody could put his mental and physical health at risk.
Smollett’s family, meanwhile, is echoing the actor’s extraordinary statement after sentencing, saying he is strong and has no desire to hurt himself.
The Cook County sheriff’s office, which operates the jail, has said detainee safety is a top priority. At his attorneys’ request Smollett has been placed in protective custody, with cameras in his cell and an officer with a body-worn camera outside his door at all times. Smollett will have no contact with other detainees, but can have time outside his cell to make phone calls and watch TV, the office has said.
While Smollett was sentenced last week to 150 days in jail, he is eligible for good behavior credit that would cut that time in half, putting his anticipated release date in late May.
Records show Smollett is being held at Cermak Health Services, the jail’s on-site medical facility. In a video posted to Smollett’s Instagram, his brother Jocqui stated that Smollett is in a “psych ward” with a note in his cell saying he is at risk of self-harm.
A spokesperson for Cook County Health, which operates Cermak, declined to comment, saying they could not release someone’s medical information without that person’s signed consent.
“He is very stable, he is very strong, he is very healthy and ready to take on the challenge that ultimately has been put up against him,” Jocqui Smollett said in the video.
Smollett’s team on Monday morning released audio of a menacing phone call received by one of Smollett’s siblings, which uses racist and homophobic terms and threatens harm to Smollett in jail.
Smollett’s attorneys want him released from jail while they argue to a higher court that his conviction should be thrown out. Among other arguments, they said in a filing Friday, Smollett’s second prosecution violated his double-jeopardy rights.
Smollett was convicted of low-level felonies in December when a jury found that he had lied to police about being the victim of a hate crime attack. Prosecutors argued at sentencing that he denigrated real victims of hate crimes when he staged a phony assault on himself involving racial slurs, homophobic epithets and a noose.
Judge James Linn sentenced Smollett to 30 months of probation, with the first 150 days to be served in Cook County Jail. In addition, he must pay a $25,000 fine as well as $120,106 — the amount of restitution the city sought to pay for its overtime costs investigating the case, minus the $10,000 Smollett forfeited to the city when his first case was dropped.
Smollett declined to speak before sentencing, but after Linn handed down his decision, Smollett surprised the whole courtroom by standing up to proclaim his innocence.
“If I did this, then it means I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years, and the fears of the LGBT community,” he said. “Your honor, I respect you, and I respect the jury, but I did not do this. And I am not suicidal, and if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself.”
In response to Smollett’s comments and his attorney’s prior remarks about COVID-19 at the jail, a sheriff’s office statement Thursday evening noted that “like all individuals ordered into custody at the jail, Mr. Smollett will be given a comprehensive medical, mental health and security assessment and will be placed in appropriate housing.”
Smollett will be tested for COVID-19 upon intake, which is the jail’s protocol, the statement noted. As of Thursday there were 12 jail detainees who were positive for COVID-19 at the jail, all of whom were identified during the intake process, the statement read.
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