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

  • Judge Steven Watkins ordered the file to be unsealed on Thursday 
  • Smollett asked for it to be kept private after the charges were dropped in March
  • He said he had the right 'to be left alone' but his lawyers have continued to do interviews about the case since
  • On Thursday, the judge said he no longer had the right to privacy because of it 

The files Smollett's team fought to keep secret will now become public

The files Smollett's team fought to keep secret will now become public

A judge in Chicago has ordered the file in the Jussie Smollett criminal case unsealed. 

It is not yet clear when all the evidence will be made public, but Cook County Judge Steven Watkins made the decision on Thursday. 

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.

Smollett had been charged with 16 counts alleging he lied to police when reporting he'd been the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack in January. 

Police insist the actor, who is black and gay, staged the attack because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted publicity.

Prosecutors dropped all charges with little explanation in March in a sensational decision that prompted accusations of special treatment. 

Smollett wanted the case sealed, saying that he had 'the right to be left alone.' 

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. 

Media lawyer Natalie Spears asked the court to unseal them, claiming Smollett's behavior throughout the proceedings took away from his right to privacy. 

She argued for the decision on May 16. Smollett's attorneys have not yet responded to it. 

Brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo say Smollett paid them to attack him and that they did not know he would call the police

Brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo say Smollett paid them to attack him and that they did not know he would call the police 

After the decision was made on Thursday, the State's Attorney's office said it would review its files and release any that could now be made public.

Since the charges were dropped, the legal fallout from the case and the investigation has been almost as dramatic as the alleged crime itself. 

Kim Foxx, the Cook County State's Attorney, is facing a special prosecutor investigation into how she handled the case from the beginning.  

In the days after Smollett reported being attacked, she exchanged text messages with his relatives and one of their associates, a former Obama aide, to try to wrestle the case out of the Chicago PD's hands to turn it over to the FBI. 

Foxx has maintained that she did nothing wrong.

Her office has stated publicly that they believe Smollett was guilty but they say they opted to give him 'deferred prosecution' which means he has no criminal record. 

Smollett paid $10,000 in bond forfeiture and did 16 hours of community service. 

Judge Steven G. Watkins made the decision on Thursday
State's Attorney Kim Foxx must now look through her office's records and unseal any that were not previously available

Judge Steven G. Watkins made the decision on Thursday.  State's Attorney Kim Foxx must now look through her office's records and unseal any that were not previously available 

After the charges were dropped, the former mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, called the decision a 'whitewash of justice' and the police Chief Superintendent, Eddie Johnston, also shared his astonishment. 

Rather than retreating from public, Smollett's attorneys continued to give interviews on his behalf to maintain his innocence. 

They also hit back at threats from the city to sue him for the cost of the police investigation. 

Now, they are being sued by brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo who are the men who beat him up on January 29 at 2am. 

They say it was at his request. He says he did not know why they did it and that he didn't recognize them at the time. 

Smollett said he could not make out of his attackers' faces but that the skin between the eyes of one of them appeared to be 'white or pale', according to his attorneys.

The attorneys have since suggested that the brothers - who are Nigerian - may have been wearing whiteface.  

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Judge orders file in Jussie Smollett criminal case

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