Busted. TDS was strong in this one. Idiot.

[DirtyDan]

https://abc7chicago.com/jussie-smollet-a-suspect-in-criminal-investigation-for-filing-false-police-report-police-say/5147410/

CHARGE

Dan

[scooperhsd]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

[The emperor has no clothes]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

[..]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

I agree but so many are "triggered" by the phrase.

What is it that causes the reaction?

[scooperhsd]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

I agree but so many are "triggered" by the phrase.

What is it that causes the reaction?

If I could tell you, I would hangout a shingle as a Psycologist

[baldo]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

I agree but so many are "triggered" by the phrase.

What is it that causes the reaction?

I'll give you three guesses.

[Bighead]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

I agree but so many are "triggered" by the phrase.

What is it that causes the reaction?

I'll give you three guesses.

Liberal- Progressives-Socialist?   How did I do?

[DirtyDan]

Update ........it’s a felony

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jussie-smollett-charged-false-police-report-felony-suspect-chicago-live-updates-2019-02-20/

Dan

[..]

Arrested

[f6john]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

But, you wouldn’t have to go back too far to find high profile people expressing a much different sentiment. Those are things I don’t forget.

[¿spoom]

MAGA is a null term - America has ALWAYS been great.

But, you wouldn’t have to go back too far to find high profile people expressing a much different sentiment. Those are things I don’t forget.

Bingo. When you even have a President saying it isn't, and burning precious fossil fuel to fly around making apologies...

[f6john]

No perp walk for Smollett. This cat has enough money for 3 high priced attorneys so he gets to turn himself in at 5 am away from cameras and reporters. Have to admire his commitment to “coming down hard on 45”. It will be interesting to see how this develops and how seriously he will be prosecuted.

[Jess from VA]

I once had a guy hire me to represent him against a charge of a false police report.

It seems he and two buddies went bar hopping, each in their own vehicle.  After bar number 2, my guy thought he was too drunk to be driving, so he left his vehicle there, and went with another buddy.  His buddies left him at bar number 3 (or was it 4?).  When he went outside and couldn't find his car (which was kind of a good thing), he was dumbfounded (and drunk), so he called the cops and reported his car stolen.  Keeping in mind how many people get in drunk driving accidents, then run away from the scene to avoid arrest and incarceration, then later report their car stolen, the cops charged him with a false police report (although they didn't have an accident with no driver around that night).

It's kind of difficult to put a case (and the facts) together when all your witnesses were shitfaced (like interviewing 3 four-year-olds; or Moe, Larry and Curly).  I had them backtrack their evening, and sure enough, there was his car still parked at bar number 2 (the great mystery was solved, days later).

I laid all this out to the prosecutor to get a dismissal, but he was young and full of himself, so we went to trial.  It didn't take long before the spectators (and the judge) were laughing as the story unfolded.  When you have a funny case, you play to the funny, it's better than having everybody pissed off at your guy.  

So what were you drinking?  Beers and shots.  How many did you have?  I can't remember.  Was it more than 2 or 3?  Heck yeah.  Was it 8 or 10?  Probably, but that was just at the first bar....  He was acquitted.  

The police report was false for sure, but to be a crime, it has to be intentional, not an honest mistake (drunk or not).  

Back in those days, if it wasn't for alcohol (and bad marriages), I would have starved.

IF Smollet is a first offender, odds are, a deal will be worked out, and he'll plead.  The only real question is how many days will he have to do.  This is Chicago after all (so it could even be probation).

 

[scooperhsd]

Smollet is NOT a first offender, although as far as filing false police reports (which is a felony) he might be.

I personally thinks he deserves a week or two in lockup, to get the seriousness into him. But If I was prosecuting I would make my initial offer for say a month.

[..]

I once had a guy hire me to represent him against a charge of a false police report.

It seems he and two buddies went bar hopping, each in their own vehicle.  After bar number 2, my guy thought he was too drunk to be driving, so he left his vehicle there, and went with another buddy.  His buddies left him at bar number 3 (or was it 4?).  When he went outside and couldn't find his car (which was kind of a good thing), he was dumbfounded (and drunk), so he called the cops and reported his car stolen.  Keeping in mind how many people get in drunk driving accidents, then run away from the scene to avoid arrest and incarceration, then later report their car stolen, the cops charged him with a false police report (although they didn't have an accident with no driver around that night).

It's kind of difficult to put a case (and the facts) together when all your witnesses were shitfaced (like interviewing 3 four-year-olds; or Moe, Larry and Curly).  I had them backtrack their evening, and sure enough, there was his car still parked at bar number 2 (the great mystery was solved, days later).

I laid all this out to the prosecutor to get a dismissal, but he was young and full of himself, so we went to trial.  It didn't take long before the spectators (and the judge) were laughing as the story unfolded.  When you have a funny case, you play to the funny, it's better than having everybody pissed off at your guy.  

So what were you drinking?  Beers and shots.  How many did you have?  I can't remember.  Was it more than 2 or 3?  Heck yeah.  Was it 8 or 10?  Probably, but that was just at the first bar....  He was acquitted.  

The police report was false for sure, but to be a crime, it has to be intentional, not an honest mistake (drunk or not).  

Back in those days, if it wasn't for alcohol (and bad marriages), I would have starved.

IF Smollet is a first offender, odds are, a deal will be worked out, and he'll plead.  The only real question is how many days will he have to do.  This is Chicago after all (so it could even be probation).

 

Superintendent of Police sounded pissed off at the press conference.

[Moonshot_1]

Smollet is NOT a first offender, although as far as filing false police reports (which is a felony) he might be.

I personally thinks he deserves a week or two in lockup, to get the seriousness into him. But If I was prosecuting I would make my initial offer for say a month.

He perpetrated this on a national forum. He gets the max. Then he gets to be charged with the mail fraud for the stupid letter he sent to himself and the investigation derived from that. That is fed time.

The max.

[Jess from VA]

I agree Mike.  But as it's Chicago, I'll wait to hear the actual result.  IF it even makes the papers/news.

[scooperhsd]

Smollet is NOT a first offender, although as far as filing false police reports (which is a felony) he might be.

I personally thinks he deserves a week or two in lockup, to get the seriousness into him. But If I was prosecuting I would make my initial offer for say a month.

He perpetrated this on a national forum. He gets the max. Then he gets to be charged with the mail fraud for the stupid letter he sent to himself and the investigation derived from that. That is fed time.

The max.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I merely stated what I thought was probable...

[Jess from VA]

Smollett has a record — one that concerns giving false information to police when he was pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence. According to records, he was also charged with false impersonation and driving without a license. He later pleaded no contest to a reduced charge and took an alcohol education and treatment program.

So, he's an habitual liar. 

[Wizzard]

I think he is going to meet Ben Dover soon. 

[phideux]

He should get the same exact sentence that would have been handed to down to someone who was found guilty of the crime he reported.

[Big Rig]

So why is what he did not considered a hate crime???

[Jess from VA]

So why is what he did not considered a hate crime???

I'll bet he's hating on himself right about now.   

[..]

Smollett has a record — one that concerns giving false information to police when he was pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence. According to records, he was also charged with false impersonation and driving without a license. He later pleaded no contest to a reduced charge and took an alcohol education and treatment program.

So, he's an habitual liar. 

He got busted and used h9s brothers details. Quite a scum bag.

[f6john]

I think he is going to meet Ben Dover soon. 

From what I understand they are old friends already.

[..]

Wrong or OK?

I lean towards OK because innocent until proven guilty.


https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-return-1203145473/

[Serk]

Wrong or OK?

I lean towards OK because innocent until proven guilty.


https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-return-1203145473/

Should have the same treatment as Roseanne Barr had....

But, I'm used to there being two standards, sadly...

[gordonv]

Wrong or OK?

I lean towards OK because innocent until proven guilty.


https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-return-1203145473/

Should have the same treatment as Roseanne Barr had....

But, I'm used to there being two standards, sadly...

That was exactly my thought today, when I herd of this. He should have been fired/dropped as fast as Roseanne was.

[Willow]

...
I lean towards OK because innocent until proven guilty.
...

That would be a misquote.  One is not innocent until proven guilty but by the court presumed innocent until proven guilty.  When one commits a crime he is guilty from the time he broke the law.  The court does not make him guilty but finds him guilty.

[¿spoom]

Expensive investigation, glad they'll most likely get "reparations";


CHICAGO (AP) Police tapped into Chicago's vast network of surveillance cameras and even some homeowners' doorbell cameras to track down two brothers who later claimed they were paid by "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett to stage an attack on him, the latest example of the city's high-tech approach to public safety.

Officers said they reviewed video from more than four dozen cameras to trace the brothers' movements before and after the reported attack, determining where they lived and who they were before arresting them a little more than two weeks later.

Smollett reported being beaten up by two men who shouted racist and anti-gay slurs and threw bleach on him. But his story fell apart when Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo bodybuilders and aspiring actors whom Smollett knew from the "Empire" set and the gym told police that Smollett paid them $3,500 to stage the attack because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career.

Smollett was arrested Thursday and made his first court appearance. He was later released after posting the required 10 percent of the $100,000 bond.

Police Commander Edward Wodnicki, who heads the detective division that led the investigation, credited the camera network but also residents who shared information from their own cameras for helping to solve the case.

"That was super useful in this investigation," he said of residents' cooperation. "The city came together to investigate and help the police with this crime."

The search went beyond surveillance cameras to include other electronic records. Detectives also reviewed in-car taxi videos, telephone logs, ride-share records and credit card records, according to a summary of the case released by prosecutors.

At first, police were puzzled when they could not find footage of the attack, which Smollett said occurred around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29 while he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop.

Chicago has the most extensive video surveillance network in the U.S., with access to more than 32,000 cameras mounted on buildings, poles, train tunnels and buses and even in businesses and private residences whose owners agree to opt into the system full-time. What's more, authorities can track someone by linking those cameras at a sophisticated emergency command center, police stations or even from tablets in officers' squad cars.

Police say Smollett deliberately staged the attack in a spot where he believed it would be captured on video, but "that particular camera wasn't pointed in that direction," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Thursday.

But police soon found footage of two men walking in the area of the attack and interviewed more than 100 people seeking witnesses.

Using 35 police cameras and more than 20 private-sector cameras, investigators were able to trace the men's movements after the attack, including footage of them getting into a cab, Wodnicki said. Detectives interviewed the cab driver, got video from inside the vehicle and followed it along a trail of cameras to the city's North Side, where the brothers got out and began walking.

The private footage offered by residents included video from cameras embedded in doorbells that showed the men walking, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

After that, police tracked the men's movements "backward to where they came from" before the attack, Wodnicki said first walking, then to a cab and back to a ride-share car.

"That was the lead we needed to identify a person of interest," Wodnicki said. "We were able to put a name to both individuals."

Police found out the men had flown to Nigeria the same day as the reported attack and would return on Feb. 13. In the meantime, police executed more than 50 search warrants and subpoenas, including for phone and social media records.

The Osundairos were arrested when they got off the plane. Within two days, they were released without charges after detailing the alleged plot orchestrated by Smollett.

Although the camera network which has raised privacy concerns among some civil liberties groups was key, it was only one part of the investigation, Guglielmi said.

"Then they just did the police work," he said. "It was a lot of digging."

[¿spoom]

Wrong or OK?

I lean towards OK because innocent until proven guilty.


https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-empire-return-1203145473/

Should have the same treatment as Roseanne Barr had....

But, I'm used to there being two standards, sadly...

Perhaps, but wrong in the Roseanne case doesn't = right later? I'm fine with waiting for the wheels of Justice to grind him up. He'll need the money to reimburse the Chicago PD to buy himself out of a fraud rap. Money well spent, and they can still jail him. Meanwhile, he gets to be treated with scorn and a reduced role on his crappy TV show. (I don't watch country music-themed prime time soap operas, either)

[f6john]

Just heard a report he has been cut out of the next two/ last two episodes.

[Jess from VA]

Regardless of any possible outcome (short of a complete acquittal, which seems unlikely), he will be ordered to pay the cost of this lengthy investigation.

It seems likely this will be in the neighborhood of several hundred thousand dollars; about the cost of a home (and it may take him about as long as a thirty year mortgage to pay it off).

As the years go by, he can think of it as the gift that keeps on giving.   

There will in all likelihood be a deal for a plea in this case.  He will deal hard to reduce time, but the cost of the investigation will likely be non negotiable.

I don't have a MAGA hat, as I dislike ball caps.  But if I had one (and lived up there), I'd wear it to his trial to show my support (for law and order).  (Course, you have to remove your hat in the courtroom)

[f6gal]

Feds and Postal Service are investigating him for mail fraud on the fake threatening letter he sent to himself.  Federal felony, a whole new level of hurt for him.  

[¿spoom]

Regardless of any possible outcome (short of a complete acquittal, which seems unlikely), he will be ordered to pay the cost of this lengthy investigation.

It seems likely this will be in the neighborhood of several hundred thousand dollars; about the cost of a home (and it may take him about as long as a thirty year mortgage to pay it off).

As the years go by, he can think of it as the gift that keeps on giving.  

There will in all likelihood be a deal for a plea in this case.  He will deal hard to reduce time, but the cost of the investigation will likely be non negotiable.

I don't have a MAGA hat, as I dislike ball caps.  But if I had one (and lived up there), I'd wear it to his trial to show my support (for law and order).  (Course, you have to remove your hat in the courtroom)

Supposedly his latest rate is/was $100k an episode, so I'm fine with him working a little longer, especially since he'll know he's probably "working for free".

[The emperor has no clothes]

The real tragedy here is not that MAGA supporters were unfairly accused. But that now real victims will be looked at with suspicion.

[Serk]

The real tragedy here is not that MAGA supporters were unfairly accused. But that now real victims will be looked at with suspicion.

As they should be, considering how often these "attacks" turn out to be fake/staged/hoaxes...

This was not the first fake MAGA attack, not by a long shot.


Edit to add:
I'm not saying such claims should be dismissed out of hand, but they should also not be assumed credible just at face value either.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Feds and Postal Service are investigating him for mail fraud on the fake threatening letter he sent to himself.  Federal felony, a whole new level of hurt for him.  

Hopefully they will charge him with everything they possibly can.

[¿spoom]

Just heard a report he has been cut out of the next two/ last two episodes.

Just saw on the news a minute or two ago that he'd been let go. They didn't say if there any episodes with him already completed and if so, would they air. I had seen yesterday that they were editing one shot but now aired, to remove an extended scene where he had a featured musical performance. Seems a little overkill to rush to cut themselves, just like happened with Roseanne.  

[The emperor has no clothes]

The real tragedy here is not that MAGA supporters were unfairly accused. But that now real victims will be looked at with suspicion.

As they should be, considering how often these "attacks" turn out to be fake/staged/hoaxes...

This was not the first fake MAGA attack, not by a long shot.

And there have been real ones also. That’s not my point. This douchebag has cast suspicions on real victims regardless of MAGA, Trump, or anybody else. The effect might be less will come forward.