Jussie Smollett’s attorney, Nenye Uche, spoke out last night to the press among others. This comes after Smollett was released from jail sooner than anticipated after his recent sentence was handed down for the “hate crime hoax” that he was found guilty of. As we reported shortly after it happened:
Shortly after Smollett was officially released, the attorney said some things that were very interesting to us. One of those things alluded to Jussie’s continued not guilty claims, however a nod that his attorney can understand if some think he’s guilty.
However, Smollett’s legal team feels that despite a guilty verdict, the way the court has handled his case has been unfair in their view.
“Obviously the Smollett family, they’re very very happy with today’s developments. Uh, the legal team… …we’re very elated about this. Let me make something clear. There is no room for politics in our court system. And our appellate courts in this great state do not play politics. Let me make something clear. When this case was initially re-indicted when this case was prosecuted when this case was sentenced, at each of those steps I wondered to myself whether Chicago has seceded from the union. Because in this country you cannot punish a person twice. And while everyone was focused on the sensationalism on this case, people were not focused on the constitutionality of the prosecution. And we’ve been trying to tell everyone that. It is unconstitutional to charge someone twice. Mr. Smollett paid a $10,000 fine… …and did community service. Now there’s no time machine to go back in time to undo those things. His $10,000 fine hasn’t even been returned to him. Right? And then you reindict the case and give him 30 months probation for a class four felony. For a man with no criminal record. Felony record… …You give him 150 days in jail, you give him what else? You make him do restitution of $120,000 and then you give him the maximum fines, and there’s something wrong with that. We’ve been complaining about the (inaudible) treatment of African Americans in the judicial system, regardless of what you think about this case. Some people might think Mr. Smollett is guilty, I disagree, we all disagree, but that’s ok, you’re entitled to your opinion. But the real question is, should Black men be walked into jail for a class four felony… continue watching below:
In our speculation, perhaps Smollett would have gotten a lighter sentence had he pled guilty, and maybe it wasn’t about race in our opinion. Now we will have to wait and see what the appeals court does next.
