


Jussie Smollett trial: Detective testifies about actor's suspicious activities on night of alleged attack
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Uche also asked Theis if he was aware one of the brothers attacked someone at the TV studio where "Empire" was filmed because he was gay. Theis said there was a message containing a slur but that he doesn’t know if that makes the man homophobic. Uche asked Theis on cross-examination about a homophobic word one of the brothers used. The brothers will testify at trial, but it’s unknown if Smollett will.

Uche has portrayed the Osundairo brothers as unreliable, and said when police searched their home they found heroin and guns. The clothesline was wrapped around his neck when officers arrived, Theis said, leading detectives to believe Smollett may have retied it. Jurors also saw a still image from a video that Theis said showed Smollett returning home the night of the alleged attack, with the clothesline draped around his shoulders.

Jurors were shown surveillance video of the brothers buying supplies, including a red hat they told police Smollett wanted them to wear to resemble supporters of then-President Donald Trump, and a piece of clothesline police said was later fashioned into the noose. "At the end of the investigation, we determined that the alleged hate crime was actually a staged event," Theis said. Police found no instance where they concluded the men were lying, he said. He said investigators checked out the brothers’ account - including that the actor picked them up days before the attack and drove them around the neighborhood where he lived and talked about what would happen - and corroborated their version of events using GPS, cellphone records and video evidence. Police arrested brothers Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo who, when questioned, said Smollett asked them to stage the attack because he was unhappy about how the TV studio handled hate mail he had received, Theis said. Smollett is charged with felony disorderly conduct for making what prosecutors say was a false police report about the alleged attack.
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Jussie Smollett trial: CPD detective takes the stand on 2nd day of trial The class 4 felony carries a prison sentence of up to three years, but experts have said if Smollett is convicted he likely would be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service. Smollett is charged with felony disorderly conduct for making what prosecutors say was a false police report. He said the case had become national and international news and that "everybody from the mayor on down" wanted it solved, a reference to then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel.ĭefense attorney Nenye Uche has said the brothers - who also worked on the set of "Empire" - attacked Smollett because they didn’t like him "because of who he is" and suggested Tuesday that the brothers were homophobic. "The crime was a hate crime, a horrible hate crime," Theis said, noting Smollett - who is Black and gay - reported that his attackers put a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him. He said police were excited when they were able to track the movements of two suspected attackers using surveillance video, cellphone records and reports from ride-sharing services. Theis, who is now assistant director for research and development for the Chicago Police Department, said roughly two dozen detectives clocked some 3,000 hours on the investigation, rebutting a defense attorney’s statement that they rushed to judgment. They said Smollett told them via text message to meet him "on the low," paid for supplies including a clothesline later fashioned into a noose, and took them for a "dry run" in downtown Chicago prior to the alleged attack. Joanie Lum has the latest on the shocking trial of Empire star, Jussie Smollett, who is charged with felony disorderly conduct for making what prosecutors say was a false police report about the alleged attack.Ī lead investigator in the case, Michael Theis, said Tuesday that two brothers who worked with Smollett on the Chicago set of "Empire" later detailed for police how the actor orchestrated the hoax and they participated in it. Day three of the Jussie Smollett trial to get underway Wednesday
