5/23/19 Chicago Tribune:
A Cook County judge Thursday ordered the case file in the aborted prosecution of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett unsealed, marking a victory for the Chicago Tribune and other news organizations and adding another twist to a case with seemingly no end to controversy.
Smollett’s attorney had succeeded in sealing the court records at the same unannounced hearing in March at which State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office abruptly dropped all charges that the actor had staged a hate crime attack on himself....
As reporters waited for the criminal file to be unsealed, former state appellate judge Sheila O’Brien held a news conference to talk about her efforts to get a special prosecutor appointed to investigate Foxx’s handling of the case. She called the judge’s decision unsealing the court file a “good first step” but said more needs to be done to ensure transparency.
“It’s not the court file that’s all-important, it’s Ms. Foxx’s file and the decision-making process in how this case was handled,” O’Brien said in the courthouse lobby.
In her petition, O’Brien highlighted how Foxx recused herself early in the investigation after communicating with a Smollett relative — only to later claim that it was not a recusal “in the legal sense” that would have required the entire office to withdraw from the prosecution.
Communications later released to the Tribune showed Foxx had asked police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to turn over the investigation to the FBI after she was approached by Tina Tchen, a former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama.
Remember, racism remains so rampant that an obviously faked hate crime cannot be prosecuted.
“It’s not the court file that’s all-important, it’s Ms. Foxx’s file and the decision-making process in how this case was handled,” O’Brien said in the courthouse lobby.
ReplyDeleteAttorney work product privilege.
In her petition, O’Brien highlighted how Foxx recused herself early in the investigation after communicating with a Smollett relative — only to later claim that it was not a recusal “in the legal sense” that would have required the entire office to withdraw from the prosecution.
Not a recusal in the legal sense. Wait-What? What is a recusal in any non-legal sense? What is the non-legal sense of the word? When has ANYONE used the word except in a legal sense, or when they were being humorous? And Alexandra Ordinary-Communist claim that her statement the world will end in 12 years aside, , when does a public official making a public statement joke in such a manner?