Case update: judge denies Smollett's double jeopardy claim.
https://apnews.com/47ca7ee9d32e63f8e7624b0cf40fe11c
From the linked article:
The way Judge James Linn saw it, the only way double jeopardy would apply is if Smollett was legally punished for what had happened to him since he was charged in connection with the January 2019 incident in downtown Chicago. But Linn determined that the deal in which the state’s attorney’s office agreed to drop charges without requiring Smollett to admit any wrongdoing and Smollett agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond did not add up to legal punishment.
“There was no trial in this case, there was no jury empaneled, no witnesses were sworn, no evidence was heard, no guilty pleas were ever entered ... nothing like that every happened,” Linn said of the 2019 case. “There was no adjudication of this case.”
I bring this up because we previously discussed the merits of a double jeopardy claim.
Ironically, if the DA wanted to help him out, she should have allowed him to enter a no contest plea to a single misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct for making a false report and giving him a minimal fine. That would have constituted an adjudication. Instead, she dropped the charges altogether allowing the charges to be refiled by the special prosecutor. Now he is facing felony charges and could go to prison.
I'm sure he'll appeal this judge's decision.
https://apnews.com/47ca7ee9d32e63f8e7624b0cf40fe11c
From the linked article:
The way Judge James Linn saw it, the only way double jeopardy would apply is if Smollett was legally punished for what had happened to him since he was charged in connection with the January 2019 incident in downtown Chicago. But Linn determined that the deal in which the state’s attorney’s office agreed to drop charges without requiring Smollett to admit any wrongdoing and Smollett agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond did not add up to legal punishment.
“There was no trial in this case, there was no jury empaneled, no witnesses were sworn, no evidence was heard, no guilty pleas were ever entered ... nothing like that every happened,” Linn said of the 2019 case. “There was no adjudication of this case.”
I bring this up because we previously discussed the merits of a double jeopardy claim.
Ironically, if the DA wanted to help him out, she should have allowed him to enter a no contest plea to a single misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct for making a false report and giving him a minimal fine. That would have constituted an adjudication. Instead, she dropped the charges altogether allowing the charges to be refiled by the special prosecutor. Now he is facing felony charges and could go to prison.
I'm sure he'll appeal this judge's decision.
