An actor accused of hiring two men to stage a racially motivated attack on him has had his conviction for lying about the incident overturned.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Jussie Smollett, who starred in the drama series Empire, was treated unfairly because prosecutors broke an agreement not to charge him.
“Today we resolve a question about the state’s responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants,” wrote Justice Elizabeth Rochford.
“We address whether a dismissal of a case … allows the state to bring a second prosecution when the dismissal was entered as part of an agreement with the defendant and the defendant has performed his part of the bargain. We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances