CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- On Monday, a Cook County judge ordered the release of Special Prosecutor Dan Webb’s full report into his investigation of the procedural miscues and public misstatements about Jussie Smollett’s case made by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her top staff.
The “Empire” actor, 39, was found guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct and acquitted on a sixth count following a jury trial earlier this month.
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Monday’s hearing before Judge Michael Toomin marked the second time Webb sought to make public his 60-page report on how the state’s attorney’s office handled the decision to dismiss a 16-count indictment charging the “Empire” actor with faking a hate crime attack outside his apartment in 2019.
Toomin appointed Webb six months after the case was dropped, charging the veteran attorney with two tasks: review the evidence and decide whether Smollett should again be charged for lying to police about the attack and probe Foxx’s office for any misconduct related to dismissing the case in the first place.
Months after announcing a new indictment against Smollett, Webb’s team completed a 60-page report detailing “substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures” by Foxx’s office, but Toomin ruled the full findings would remain under seal.
Smollett was also re-indicted.
In a motion seeking to unseal the report filed last week, Webb said that, now that Smollett’s trial had concluded, there was no reason to keep his findings about the investigation from the public.
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In ruling to keep the case sealed, Toomin said the extensive media coverage of the case, which included in-depth reporting based on hundreds of pages of investigative files released by CPD just days after the charges were dropped, there was little justification to release grand jury information that typically would remain secret.
In his summary, Webb said he found no criminal conduct behind the unorthodox decision to drop all charges against Smollett, with the actor forfeiting only his $10,000 bond and making no admission of guilt.
But Webb did say that Foxx and her top deputies had notable procedural errors behind the scenes, and false statements to the public, including the assertion that Smollett was treated much the same as defendants in deferred prosecution programs offered by the courts, and that the evidence against the actor was weak. The Smollett controversy marred Foxx’s first term as state’s attorney, but she handily defeated opponents in the Democratic primary and general election to win reelection in 2020.
During some eight hours on the witness stand during his trial, Smollett maintained he was not involved in planning the attack, which Webb alleged was a publicity stunt the actor plotted because he was unhappy with the “Empire” studio.
Smollett faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced, though he is considered a likely candidate for a probation-only sentence that would keep him from serving time behind bars. His sentencing will not take place until early next year.
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(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2021. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)