Sheila O’Brien, the retired appellate judge who successfully petitioned for a special prosecutor to review the Jussie Smollett case, says four motions filed last week by the actor’s California-based attorneys should be ignored.

The network announced Tuesday that it has ordered “Surviving R. Kelly: The Aftermath,” a four-part series that includes interviews with new survivors and experts on the case.

A judge has agreed to make public the details of a plea agreement reached this week between Cook County prosecutors and a former Oxford University staffer who says he’ll testify against an ex-Northwestern University professor at his upcoming murder trial.

More than two years after a grizzly slaying that led authorities on a nationwide manhunt, a former Oxford University staffer has pleaded guilty to murder and agreed to testify against his co-defendant, a former Northwestern University associate professor.

Four cops fired over an alleged cover-up. A life sentence for a former U. of I. student. A war of words between Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Five casino locations are unveiled. And the Cubs are red hot.

Attorneys for the former “Empire” actor continue to proclaim their client’s innocence, and say a judge’s recent decision to allow a special prosecutor to review criminal charges against the actor is a “travesty of justice.”

A 12-person jury deliberated for more than eight hours over the course of two days in Peoria’s federal courthouse, but failed to reach a unanimous decision in the death-penalty case. 

A 12-person jury is in the process of deciding whether the former Ph.D. candidate will live out the rest of his natural life behind bars or if he’ll be put to death for the kidnapping and killing of Yingying Zhang.

The embattled R&B superstar, who has been the subject of sexual assault accusations for decades, won’t be allowed to walk free while facing his latest legal battle.

More than a month after they first began hearing testimony, jurors in the trial of Brendt Christensen are likely to begin deliberating this week over his appropriate sentence: life in prison or death.

A federal court hearing for R&B singer R. Kelly has been pushed back a day and will instead be held Tuesday when the singer was expected to be arraigned.

Singer R. Kelly, already facing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutors, was arrested in Chicago on a federal grand jury indictment listing 13 counts including sex crimes and obstruction of justice.

Defense attorneys called a juror’s actions this week “unprecedented” and sought a mistrial on Wednesday. That request was denied, but the walkout marks one more oddity in the high-profile case.

As he looked down at a photo of his daughter, Ronggao Zhang could not contain himself. He turned away, inhaled sharply and began crying on the witness stand. Then the man convicted of killing Yingying Zhang did the same.

A federal appeals court says Chicago can no longer continue to hold impounded vehicles of drivers in debt to the city after the vehicle owner files for bankruptcy. Melissa Sanchez of ProPublica Illinois explains.

Until this week, jurors knew little about Yingying Zhang, other than how she died. Federal prosecutors on Monday sought to paint a better picture of the visiting Chinese scholar through the words of her friends and loved ones.