Courts
Smollett Hatched ‘Secret Plan’ For Hoax Attack, Per Prosecutors, But Defense Says He’s ‘Real Victim’
Jussie Smollett faces six counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making false reports to multiple different Chicago police officers about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in 2019.
Jury selection begins Monday as the former "Empire" star will stand trial on charges of disorderly conduct after he allegedly filed a false police report claiming to be the victim of a January 2019 attack by two men near his Streeterville apartment.
The Midwest Innocence Project set up the GoFundMe fundraiser as they fought for Kevin Strickland’s release, noting that he wouldn’t receive compensation from Missouri and would need help paying for basic living expenses.
The convictions for Greg McMichael, son Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan came after jurors deliberated for about 10 hours. The men face minimum sentences of life in prison. It is up to the judge to decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole.
Darrell Brooks Jr. was charged with five counts of intentional homicide in the crash Sunday in Waukesha, a Milwaukee suburb. Conviction on first-degree intentional homicide carries a mandatory life sentence, Wisconsin’s stiffest penalty.
Felton Williams was on parole following a previous aggravated battery against a peace officer when he allegedly fired a gun at Chicago police officers during a foot pursuit Sunday evening.
Demonstrators traced the route Rittenhouse took the night in August last year when he shot and killed two people and wounded a third during protests over police brutality. They carried signs that said “Reject Racist Vigilante Terror” and “THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS GUILTY!” A couple of protesters carried long guns.
Protesters have gathered following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse killed two people and injured another during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year. Protests have been held in several U.S. cities into Saturday over the verdict, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after pleading self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings that became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice.
Jurors in the trial of Antioch native Kyle Rittenhouse have now completed three days of deliberation and still no verdict. This comes as demonstrators made their voices heard outside the Kenosha County Courthouse again, and as the outspoken judge in the case admonished a member of the news media.
Beginning June 1, 2022, juror pay — which has not increased for decades — will increase from $14.50 per day to $30 per day, while travel stipends will increase from $2.70 per day to $5 per day.
The members of the panel will return on Friday morning to resume their work. Unlike on previous days, they had no questions and no requests to view any evidence Thursday in the politically and racially fraught case.
2 Men Charged in Fatal ATM Robbery Later ‘Double Crossed,’ Killed Their Own Accomplices: Prosecutors
“I know this is a complicated fact pattern,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said, “but in looking at the facts as alleged by the state, it’s as if these two defendants tried to copy every armed robbery movie out there, right down to the double cross.”
Judge Bruce Schroeder did not immediately rule on the request, the second mistrial motion from the defense in a week.
The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial deliberated a full day on Tuesday without reaching a verdict over whether he was the instigator in a night of bloodshed in Kenosha or a concerned citizen who came under attack while trying to protect property.
Chicago’s inspector general should conduct “a full factual investigation” of Ald. Jim Gardiner's conduct, the Chicago Board of Ethics determined.