PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Off-duty Chicago State's Attorney Kim Foxx as she prepares to go to court over her handling of Jussie Smollett case
- Foxx was pictured on Tuesday in Chicago, dressed down in sweatpants
- The embattled Chicago prosecutor is facing calls to resign over her ethics
- She is due in court on Friday to fight her case and stop a special prosecutor from being brought in to investigate her
- Foxx and her deputy Joseph Magats were subpoenaed by former judge Sheila O'Brien
- They have come under fire for dropping 16 felony counts that a grand jury hit Smollett with last month
Kim Foxx, the embattled Chicago State's Attorney facing calls to resign, was seen on Tuesday dressed down near her home as she prepared to go to court to face questions over her handling of the Jussie Smollett case.
The prosecutor was seen leaving her home in a pair of sweatpants and a casual sweatshirt, a far cry from her usual court attire.
She is due before a judge on Friday after being subpoenaed, along with her top deputy, to answer questions over why her office dropped the 16 felony charges against Smollett in March.
Foxx, who maintains she did nothing wrong, is fighting the subpoena.
It was filed by Sheila O'Brien, a former judge who is asking for a special prosecutor to probe Foxx and her office's handling of the case.
Kim Foxx, the embattled Cook County State's Attorney, is shown leaving her home on Tuesday as she faces increased scrutiny over her handling of the Jussie Smollett case
Foxx informally recused herself from the investigation in February after exchanging text messages with one of Smollett's relatives. She, at their request, lobbied the Chicago Police Department to turn the case over to the FBI when Smollett was still considered a victim.
As the investigation progressed, she stepped down citing the texts as a conflict of interest.
Joseph Magats took over and was officially leading the investigation when Smollett was arrested.
But when a grand jury indicted the actor on 16 felony counts of lying to police, Foxx - who had claimed to have stepped away from the 'decision making - sent Magats a text saying it was an excessive indictment.
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She discouraged him from prosecuting them all.
Days later, the case was suddenly dropped in exchange for Smollett paying $10,000 and completing 16 hours of community service.
It enraged local officials and called for questions into Foxx's relationship with the star.
Foxx was dressed down as she left her home. She is due in court on Friday to fight against a request to have a special prosecutor investigate her office
Foxx maintains that her conduct has been above board. She says she had no conflict of interest in the case despite recusing herself from it
Foxx tried to fight the motion with her own in which she claimed she had no conflict of interest
She has maintained that it was an appropriate sentence and said that an investigation is underway.
During a public appearance last week, she told an audience: 'I am here for criticism.
'I ran for office — not to evade conversation — I ran to take it on.'
Smollett will not return to Empire. All 16 charges against him were dropped last month
When asked what she would say to her harshest critics, she replied: 'I don’t believe that I have haters.
'I have motivators.'
O'Brien, in her petition, said the office could not be trusted to carry out its own probe given all that has happened.
Foxx is also facing criticism from the LGBTQ community in Chicago over Illinois' laws which prevent transgender people from changing their names if they have criminal convictions.
The state is being sued, along with Wisconsin, for the law.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Cook County and cites the cases of 13 transgender women in Illinois who are forced to present ID's with their old, male names on them, because they have felony convictions which legally prevent them from being able to change their names.
They say it is an unconstitutional law which infringes on their free speech.
Fox announced on Tuesday that Smollett would not be returning to the show.
Kim Foxx sent these text messages to her deputy on March 8 after a grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 counts of lying to police. She had already 'recused' herself for speaking to Smollett's family but continued to interfere in the case by telling her deputies that the charges were excessive. The charges were dropped two weeks later
'By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett’s option for season six, but at this time there are no plans for the character of Jamal to return to Empire.
The fact Fox negotiated 'an extension' to Smollett's contract means that technically he could make a return at some later point.
But it might also just be the result of a bargain struck between the actor and the network which would see him paid by Fox in return for picking up his option even though he won't be back on screen.
A rep for Smollett told THR.com: 'We've been told Jussie will not be on Empire in the beginning of the season but he appreciates they have extended his contract to keep Jamal’s future open.'
'Most importantly he is grateful to Fox and Empire leadership, cast, crew and fans for their unwavering support.'
The news comes one week after Smollett, 36, met with Empire season five showrunner Brett Mahoney in New York.
