Jussie Smollett Still Not Ready to Accept Defeat as Defense Attorney Vows That He Will Appeal Verdict

After liberal actor Jussie Smollett was convicted today on five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct, his lawyer has vowed to appeal the verdict.

Using some of the same language that he did before the trial, defense attorney Nenye Uche said Smollett would appeal the conviction.

Uche said Smollett was disappointed but “holding up very strong,” and is “committed to clearing his name,” expressing confidence his client would be cleared by an appellate court.

Additionally, Uche suggested, “Unfortunately we were facing an uphill battle where Jussie was already tried and convicted in the media and then we had to somehow get the jury to forget or unsee all the news stories that they had been hearing that were negative for the last three years.”

Uche also seized on the one not guilty count and called the split verdict “inconsistent” and that it made no sense for Smollett to be convicted of five counts but not the sixth charge, since “everything stems from one incident.”

When he spoke at a news conference following the verdict, special prosecutor Dan Webb said he didn’t want to draw conclusions about why the jury acquitted Smollett on the sixth charge.

The special prosecutor pointed out that since the five other counts were related to reports made in the immediate hours after the attack, not two weeks later, the dates could’ve potentially played a part in the acquittal.

Webb expressed satisfaction in the jury’s decision and said the sixth count “wasn’t that significant to our case. It has no impact on the case whatsoever.”