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<h6><span style="color: #262020;"><strong><span style="font-size: inherit;">Former &#8216;Empire&#8217; actor Jussie Smollett is charged with 16 counts alleging he lied to police when reporting he&#8217;d been the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack </span></strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #262020;"><strong>Sitting in Chicago on Thursday, a judge ordered files in the Smollett case be unsealed</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #262020;"><strong>The actor is accused of staging hoax attack, <span style="font-size: inherit;">in January</span></strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #262020;"><strong>Judge Steven Watkins said Smollett has no right to privacy because he repeatedly claimed his innocence in interviews </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #262020;"><strong>Smollett&#8217;s defense team had asked for details to be kept private after the charges were dropped in March</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #262020;"><strong>While Smollett said he had the right &#8216;to be left alone&#8217; but his lawyers have continued to do interviews about the case since</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #262020;"><strong>Judge Watkins said he no longer had the right to privacy because of media blitz</strong></span></h6>
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<div class="mobile-gallery-icon"><span style="font-size: inherit;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-308535" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Jussie-Smollett-5.jpg" alt="Jussie Smollett 5" width="1280" height="720" /><strong>The case files Smollett&#8217;s team fought to keep secret will now become public after a Chicago judge ruled that the actor forfeited his rights to keep the case sealed to protect his privacy by talking to the media before and after prosecutors dismissed the charges against him.</strong></span></div>
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<div class="mobile-gallery-icon"><span style="font-size: inherit;">A judge in Chicago has ordered the file in the Jussie Smollett criminal case unsealed.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">It is not yet clear when all the evidence will be made public, but Cook County Judge Steven Watkins made the decision on Thursday.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">He said that while there are good arguments in favor of keeping the file sealed, the actor forfeited his rights to keep the case sealed to protect his privacy by talking to the media before and after prosecutors dismissed the charges against him, The <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-jussie-smollett-sealed-court-records-20190523-story.html">Chicago Tribune</a> reports.</span></div>
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<div id="google_ads_iframe_/424397508/dailymail.uk/dm_dmnews_newsart/inread_player_top_0__container__"><span style="font-size: inherit;">Smollett had been charged with 16 counts alleging he lied to police when reporting he&#8217;d been the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack in January.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">Police insist the actor, who is black and gay, staged the attack because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted publicity.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: inherit;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-308002" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Jussie-Smollett-1.png" alt="Jussie Smollett 1" width="608" height="711" /><strong>Smollett had been charged with 16 counts alleging he lied to police when reporting he&#8217;d been the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack in January. </strong></span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: inherit;">Smollett’s attorney succeeded in sealing the court records at the same unannounced hearing in which Illinois State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office abruptly dropped all charges that the actor had staged a hate crime attack on himself.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: inherit;">That decision by prosecutors to drop all charges with little explanation in March proved sensational and prompted accusations of special treatment.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">Smollett wanted the case sealed, saying that he had &#8216;the right to be left alone.&#8217;</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: inherit;">But before he was charged, he went on Good Morning America to insist he was telling the truth and even after the charges were dropped, his lawyers continued doing the media rounds to protest his innocence.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">Tribune attorney Natalie Spears, who represented the news media in the case, on May 16 asked the court to unseal them, claiming Smollett&#8217;s behavior throughout the proceedings took away from his right to privacy.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">After court Spears said the judge’s decision should be applauded.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">“This is about transparency and trust in the system, and we believe the public has a right to know what their government did here and why,” Spears said in the lobby of the Leighton Criminal Court Building.</span><span style="font-size: inherit;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;"><span style="font-size: inherit;">Smollett&#8217;s attorneys have not yet responded to it. </span></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: inherit;">However, it is unclear how long it would take the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, which maintains the criminal records, to unseal Smollett’s case. The actual court file itself is slim since Foxx&#8217;s office abruptly dropped the 16-count indictment against Smollett only about a month after he was charged.<br />
</span><span style="font-size: inherit;">But the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County state&#8217;s attorney&#8217;s office have both denied public-records requests on the grounds that the file was sealed. In its April 16 response to the Tribune requests, Foxx’s office said more records could be released if the seal was lifted.</span></div>
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Judge orders files in Jussie Smollett case saying the Empire actor accused of staging hoax attack has no right to privacy because he repeatedly claimed his innocence in interviews
