Jussie Smollett Case Attorney Escapes Criminal Charges After Ignoring ‘Major Legal Defect’

After investigating how Kim Foxx, the Cook County State’s Attorney, and her office handled the Jussie Smollett case, Special Prosecutor Dan Webb’s report found no evidence that would support pressing criminal charges against her.

Last year, Judge Michael Toomin tapped Webb to investigate the conduct of those who were initially put on Smollett's case and to determine whether the “Empire” actor should be prosecuted for a second time.

In his report, Webb found “substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures,” on behalf of Foxx and her office.

Webb learned that Foxx continued to make false statements about the case after she publicly recused herself, WLS, Chicago's ABC affiliate, reported. She also remained in contact with the actor’s sister, Jurnee Smollett, after she learned Jussie was a suspect in a Chicago police investigation.

In his report, Webb said that Foxx was required to, “recuse the entire CCSAO and petition the court to appoint a special prosecutor. Instead of implementing the proper legal course to carry out the recusal once this defect was brought to their attention, the CCSAO and State’s Attorney Foxx made the decision to ignore this major legal defect seemingly because they did not want to admit that they had made such a major mistake of judgment regarding State’s Attorney Foxx’s recusal.”

Last year, Smollett told Chicago police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. However, officials later said that he hired two brothers to attack him.

Webb’s investigation into Foxx’s conduct concluded that she was unprofessional throughout the case, but her behavior did not warrant criminal prosecution.

Webb’s full report on the Cook County prosecutors is not available to the public. However, his team plans on requesting permission to release the entire 60-page final report.