Smollett Smells

[Cock Throppled]

All charges dropped and the file sealed after a grand jury added 15 extra charges to the original one put before them?

Once upon a time, paying $10,000 to make charges go away was called a bribe.

This is about as blatant favouristism as we've ever seen outside of a third world country.

If he was innocent, why wouldn't he push for his day in court?

Hopefully, some heads will roll over this.

 

[Lo-ki]

Money talks
Bullshit walks

 

[nightswhisper]

The lawyer costed him well over $100,000.

His reputation is in shambles. His trust with the public is ruined.

I'd say the punishment was just.

 

[westwoody]

Judges often consider the costs nightswhisper mentioned when deciding to proceed.
Smollett lost far more than 100,000 in future earnings. He has been vilified by all sides on social media and might end up slinging burgers.
He should get a criminal record for his stunt because it did a lot of harm, I don't think jail is needed.

 

[Forthedevil]

Judges often consider the costs nightswhisper mentioned when deciding to proceed.
Smollett lost far more than 100,000 in future earnings. He has been vilified by all sides on social media and might end up slinging burgers.
He should get a criminal record for his stunt because it did a lot of harm, I don't think jail is needed.

Judges do not consider the potential legal costs to someone charged with a criminal offence when “deciding whether to proceed.” In the Smollett case, a judge had nothing to do with “deciding to proceed.” The decision was made by the Cook County states attorney. He does deserve a criminal record though.

 

[italian233]

Since he already lost his job and his reputation took a massive hit since the revelations of the suppose staged attack came out. Jail time prob unnecessary since Chicago has alot more other crime to deal with. Hollywood loves giving second chances so most likely he will too. Though he should be forced to pay the full 100k bond not only the 10k he posted.

 

[badbadboy]

15 minutes of fame is over, thankfully. What an ill conceived plan to garner sympathy. His career self imploded and there's zero chance of fixing it now

He does deserve some sort of punishment like community service that is genuine.

Well it did distract from Trump TV for ten minutes. Yay!

 

[rlock]

Usually, prosecutors do not cut a weak deal when they have enough evidence to crucify a suspect without breaking a sweat. If they do a deal with such overwhelming evidence in their favour, it usually involves a guilty plea, followed by the suspect begging for leniency

Strange to see a prosecutor cut a deal - behind the back of the police - and drop the charges when the suspect not only admits zero guilt, shows zero remorse, and who's hoax potentially brought the whole administration of justice into disrepute.

Why do I get the feeling the Cook Country State's Attorney was getting a blowie from Smolett during the "negotiation" ?

 

[sybian]

Usually, prosecutors do not cut a weak deal when they have enough evidence to crucify a suspect without breaking a sweat. If they do a deal with such overwhelming evidence in their favour, it usually involves a guilty plea, followed by the suspect begging for leniency

Strange to see a prosecutor cut a deal - behind the back of the police - and drop the charges when the suspect not only admits zero guilt, shows zero remorse, and who's hoax potentially brought the whole administration of justice into disrepute.

Why do I get the feeling the Cook Country State's Attorney was getting a blowie from Smolett during the "negotiation" ?

How would they negotiate when one of them has their mouth full?
Man ....there's an awful lot of free blowies being thrown around these days.

 

[rlock]

How would they negotiate when one of them has their mouth full?
Man ....there's an awful lot of free blowies being thrown around these days.

Such a common currency it could be called Bitecoin.

 

[sybian]

Such a common currency it could be called Bitecoin.

Yes that's right......when they start talking about performing ATM, don't make the mistake I did ,and think they want to meet you at your bank machine.

 

[cr_tallguy]

Yes that's right......when they start talking about performing ATM, don't make the mistake I did ,and think they want to meet you at your bank machine.

Tsk tsk... you should have checked the PERB Acronym decoder section before you went to that bank machine. And BTW Bitecoin needs to be added to the list there.... just saying

 

[appleomac]

Usually, prosecutors do not cut a weak deal when they have enough evidence to crucify a suspect without breaking a sweat. If they do a deal with such overwhelming evidence in their favour, it usually involves a guilty plea, followed by the suspect begging for leniency

Strange to see a prosecutor cut a deal - behind the back of the police - and drop the charges when the suspect not only admits zero guilt, shows zero remorse, and who's hoax potentially brought the whole administration of justice into disrepute.

Why do I get the feeling the Cook Country State's Attorney was getting a blowie from Smolett during the "negotiation" ?

I suspect they cut a deal because there was no specific identifiable victim. Smollett claimed he was attacked, which he was not, and those two brothers he paid were in on the hoax. If Smollett had falsely accused a specific person as the attacker, the false statement to police would most likely be deemed a more serious offense (from the prosecutor's POV). Although there is a good chance of a plea deal in that hypothetical scenario. Had Smollett falsely accused an individual, let's say that individual's identity was made public and some vigilantes decided to exact some revenge on the falsely accused individual - Smollett would most likely not have gotten a plea deal as there was a specific identifiable victim. Unfortunately, what Smollett and those two brothers did was akin to a prank call. His motivation to get some publicity for his career, ridiculous of a reason to do what he did, is a far less serious offense than let's say making a false statement to police which falsely accused an innocent person. Had Smollett's false statements lead to someone being harmed, the prosecutor would probably take a much more stiff approach in dealing with this case.

 

[clu]

Another drop in the injustice ocean.

 

[badbadboy]

The Chicago Mayor says Smollett owes Chicago $130K for investigation costs.

His legal team says he has paid enough. :crazy:

 

[Stamkos]

......His career self imploded and there's zero chance of fixing it now......

Don’t know about that b3, bet someone like Tyler Perry resurrects him at some point....they love their reclamation projects!!!

 

[80watts]

I see everyone's convicted Smollett without a trial. The Trial was held in the news not a court of law. In law you are innocent until proven guilty....

The prosecutor's office even stated that it was one of the reasons to drop the case.

Slander. You can not go around and accuse people of things, without the means to back it up or prove it.

Its a sad case. Lets end Smolletts 15 minutes of fame and never hear about him again....

 

[appleomac]

I see everyone's convicted Smollett without a trial. The Trial was held in the news not a court of law. In law you are innocent until proven guilty....

The prosecutor's office even stated that it was one of the reasons to drop the case.

Slander. You can not go around and accuse people of things, without the means to back it up or prove it.

Its a sad case. Lets end Smolletts 15 minutes of fame and never hear about him again....

Voicing one's belief/opinion about Smollett's guilt is not "convicting" Smollett of anything. The state is bound by presumption of innocence; citizens voicing beliefs/opinions do not violate presumption of innocence as technically speaking a citizen does not owe Smollett a presumption of anything. And accusations are not slander.

 

[Cock Throppled]

I see everyone's convicted Smollett without a trial. The Trial was held in the news not a court of law. In law you are innocent until proven guilty....

The prosecutor's office even stated that it was one of the reasons to drop the case.

.

Except the prosecutor says they believe they had more than enough evidence to convict him.

And this wasn't just any hoax - it was an attempt to highlight a supposed hate crime, and had political ramifications.

 

[80watts]

Accusations which are false, are a defamation of character; which is slander. In today's society we tend to mouth off about everything and anything, because we think we have free speech. (Say the word BOMB in an airport- see what happens...)

Until someone is convicted of a crime, he is not a criminal, even though most people would think that person is a criminal. Criminal isn't it....

Free speech does not give us the right to mouth off and repeat other people's accusations, just because we believe the accusation. You need to know the facts behind the accusations before repeating them or you can be held to account.

And yes public opinion had already convicted Smollett, so would he receive a fair trial?

The prosecutor should of took him to court, but with what results. It would be hard to find a jury that was not prejudiced against him because of the news coverage. It just would lead to re-trails and appeals, which would not serve the public interest in time and money for a false police report...

As for a supposed hate crime, I don't think any prosecutor would want to touch that in court (or a 50 foot pole), cause it could go ballistic through either the law end, or the public exposure could be disastrous for American racial relations.