CHICAGO — Actor Jussie Smollett’s defense team rested its case Tuesday after he returned to the stand in his criminal trial, sparring with prosecutors over the sequence of events in 2019, when he says he was the victim of a hate crime attack, and blasting the testimony of the two brothers involved in the incident as “liars.”
After more than a week of witness testimony, the trial in Chicago surrounding the once-rising star of the television show “Empire” is expected to continue Wednesday with closing arguments.
Smollett, 39, is charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for making what prosecutors say was a false police report about the alleged attack. The case hinges on whose narrative the jury determines is more credible: that of Smollett, who denies masterminding an attack on himself in order to gain public sympathy and raise his profile, as prosecutors allege, or that of siblings Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, who maintain Smollett paid them to stage the attack.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, laid out what he says occurred on the early morning of Jan. 29, 2019, while walking home in downtown Chicago after getting food. He testified this week that he heard someone yell “Empire” and the phrase “MAGA country,” in reference to former President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, and racist and homophobic remarks.
Smollett said he turned around and responded using an expletive, and was punched in his left eye. He tried to fight back, testifying that the person who attacked him was bigger than his own 5-foot-11 frame. He also said he saw a second assailant.
“It felt like something out of ‘Looney Tunes’ adventures. It felt like someone massive coming up to me. Not enough time to think,” Smollett said. “This person felt significantly larger than me. Dressed in dark clothes. A ski mask.”
Dec. 7, 202101:23
Under cross-examination, Smollett said he initially refused to give Chicago police his cellphone for their investigation because he wanted his privacy. Asked by special prosecutor Dan Webb if he was concerned the phone would show several calls to Abimbola Osundairo, Smollett said no.
Smollett testified that he first met Abimbola Osundairo in 2017 at a club, where he learned Osundairo also worked on the “Empire” set. He said the two men did drugs together and went to a bathhouse, where Smollett said they “made out.” He said the two men later did more drugs and participated in sex acts together.
Abimbola Osundairo testified last week that he and Smollett did not have a sexual relationship.
Ahead of the staged attack, Osundairo said, Smollett sent him a text message about needing to to talk secretly “on the low,” and that during the conversation Smollett brought up orchestrating a planned assault. Smollett said the text message was in reference to an illegal steroid that Osundairo previously told him he could get from Nigeria.
Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo, who are Black, also testified last week that Smollett instructed them to yell “this is MAGA country” during the assault.
On Tuesday, Smollett reiterated: “They’re liars. They also said I had something to do with it, and I didn’t.”
Defense attorneys have suggested that the Osundairo brothers accused Smollett of staging the hoax because they disliked him and then saw an opportunity to make money. They suggested that after the brothers were questioned by police about the alleged attack, they asked Smollett for $1 million each to not testify against him at trial.
Smollett’s lawyers also have argued that Chicago police rushed to judgment when they brought charges against Smollett. He initially faced as many as 16 felony counts involving filing a false police report before prosecutors dropped the charges in March 2019. A special prosecutor, however, secured another indictment last year.
Smollett said the twisting saga has been an “embarrassing” episode in his life and caused him to lose out on work.
“I’ve lost my livelihood,” he told the jury.
Smollett could face up to three years in prison if convicted, although legal experts say his lack of a criminal record and the fact that no one was seriously hurt in the alleged attack might result in probation and community service.
Samira Puskar reported from Chicago and Erik Ortiz from New York.
The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
