Jussie Smollett Appeals Hate Crime Hoax 150-Day Jail Sentence

Jussie Smollett wants to be completely off the hook after being convicted of lying to police in December 2021 about a hate crime.

As reported by Variety, attorneys for the actor filed an appeal of his conviction on Wednesday after the actor served six days in jail, of a 150-day sentence, and was released a year ago. His attorneys are seeking to keep him from having to go back to jail for hate crime hoax charges.

Smollett's attorneys were originally due to file his appellate brief last August, but they have been granted five extensions of that deadline.

"In the appellate brief, Smollett's attorneys argue that the trial judge, James Linn, made a series of reversible errors, that the 150-day sentence is excessive, and that the entire prosecution should have been disallowed," Variety reports.

If you remember, Smollett claimed at the time that he was assaulted on a wintery Chicago day by two men who shouted homophobic and racist slurs, poured a chemical substance on him, and put a noose around his neck.

Chicago detectives initially treated the incident as a hate crime before turning the investigation on Smullett and concluding that he paid two men $3,500 to stage the attack.

During Smollett's sentencing, Judge James Linn called the actor a "charlatan" who had shown himself to be "profoundly arrogant and selfish and narcissistic." While being taken into custody, Smollett shouted: "I am innocent and I am not suicidal."

After being indicted on 16 counts, the state's attorney's office quickly dropped those charges against Smollett following a community-wide outcry and a judge ordered a special prosecutor who brought the charges back.

"Smollett's defense argued repeatedly that the second prosecution should have been barred under the principle of 'double jeopardy,'" Variety reports.

Smollett was ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the Chicago Police Department for its overtime costs, and a $25,000 fine. However, his defense argues that Illinois law does not allow the police department to be considered a "victim" and therefore the restitution order should be overturned.

Mess.