This could be bad news for Cook County (IL) State’s Attorney Kim Foxx… and VERY bad news for Empire actor Jussie Smollett!
On Friday morning, a judge in Cook County ruled that a special prosecutor must be appointed to investigate Foxx’s handling of the Smollett investigation, according to news reports coming out of Chicago.
Related: Chicago PD Publicly Releases 470 Pages Of Smollett Files!
Judge Michael Toomin ruled Friday that Foxx, who had previously recused herself from the investigation, acted without authority when she appointed Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats in her place to what was apparently a “fictitious” office in order to investigate the alleged violent attack on Smollett in the city of Chicago earlier this year.
As you’ll recall, in late March, Foxx’s office ended up dismissing all charges against Smollett, dropping the investigation into whether he had allegedly staged or faked his own attack. But Judge Toomin has now ruled that, because Magats’ conclusions there came after his “fictitious” appointment, the dismissal may not necessarily be the best decision going forward — and Smollett could eventually face new charges, if the special prosecutor determines that to be necessary.
In his decision on Friday, Toomin wrote (below):
“What causes concerns is that [Foxx] appointed [Magats] to an entity that had and has no legal existence. There is no office of acting state’s attorney.”
To that end, the judge argued the appointment meant there “was effectively no state’s attorney” when Smollett was arrested, charged, indicted, arraigned, and then dismissed — meaning all of those legal decisions are thus invalid, and a special prosecutor must look into the case to see whether Smollett ought to be re-charged and prosecuted once again.
It’s unclear who the special prosecutor will be, at this point — maybe Robert Mueller??? LOLz!!! Toomin has said he will ask the state of Illinois Attorney General’s office to take the case on, but if they decline, he’ll seek volunteers from other county’s state’s attorney’s offices to begin moving forward.
As for Smollett, who already wasn’t planning on returning to Empire for its next season on air, it’s likely time to once again start preparing a big-time legal defense — just in case. Obviously, a special prosecutor may well determine that no charges should be re-filed against the actor, and in that case, the (non) case is right back to where it is today. But the possibility of charges once again looms, meaning that for Smollett, this whole nightmare has just been brought right back up to the forefront.
Reactions, Perezcious readers?? Will Smollett have to face down new charges over whether he staged his own violent attack?! Do U think it’s fair to put the Empire actor through this whole ordeal once again?? What do you think will happen with this special prosecutor?!
Sound OFF in the comments (below)…
[Image via WENN]
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