CHICAGO (1010 WINS) -- Questions remain after prosecutors in Chicago dropped charges against Empire actor Jussie Smollett who was accused of lying about a hate crime.
All of the court documents will be sealed in the case, and an expungement hearing was planned for Wednesday.
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The Cook County State's Attorney office said that despite dropping the charges, they still believe Smollett staged the attack and lied to investigators. Smollett claimed he had been attacked by two men who hurled slurs at him and left a noose around his neck during an early morning trip to Subway.
Smollett's attorney Tina Glandian told ABC's Good Morning America they're ready to move forward.
"We appeared in court, we plead not guilty, we were ready to fight the charges, they're the ones who voluntarily discontinued this matter. So I think that speaks volumes," she said.
She said Smollett is now focused on getting his life back on track.
The stunning decision by Chicago prosecutors to dismiss the charges has a growing number of critics including Chicago's mayor Rahm Emanuel and the police superintendent.
“The person that committed that hoax is walking around, saying ‘I’m innocent, and everything I said is true,’” Emanuel said. “I would like a resolution, and a sense of accountability and responsibility in the system of who is right.”
FOX News reports Emanuel is considering suing Smollett to recoup money the city spent on the investigation. Charges were dropped after 16 hours of community service and an agreement to forfeit $10,000.
"Especially [in] a city that embraced not only him as an actor but more importantly the values of being whoever you are, whoever you love, whatever your background is, you have a home here. He took that, turned it around and tried to self-promote himself. And the fact is, he's walking around with no sense of contrition, no sense of remorse, and the fact is also the state's attorney is saying he's actually guilty of this hoax, and he's walking around saying, 'No, I'm innocent.'," Emanuel said.
The case resulted in 24 detectives being removed from regular cases for up to 1,000 hours. Cops also combed through video on 55 different cameras and executed 50 search warrants. During the course of the investigation, Chicago saw at least 20 murders and 134 sex assaults.
Smollett has insisted that he is innocent and said he has been 'truthful and consistent' since day one.