We're creeping up on eight months since Jussie Smollett told Chicago police that he was verbally and physically accosted on the city's streets, and the world still doesn't know for sure what went on that evening. It's apparent that Smollett won't undergo criminal charges in connection to the incident, but the city of Chicago isn't letting the actor back out of this one without paying up, somehow.
Back in April, Chicago sued Smollett for $130K, citing that he should reimburse the city for the overtime payments it made to investigators involved in tracking down the truth related to his alleged assault. Smollett doesn't believe that he should be held responsible, and recently his lawyer, William Quinlan, spoke out against the lawsuit by calling it a "vindictive effort to prosecute charges."
“This unprecedented civil case was filed simply because former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel disagreed with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s decision to dismiss the false police report charges against Mr. Smollett,” Quinlan said in documents, according to Page Six. Quinlan is calling for the lawsuit to be dismissed. "Mr. Smollett has always maintained and continues to maintain his innocence. Yet the City’s claims and purported damages are a vindictive effort to prosecute charges that the State’s Attorney pursued and then chose to drop,” the 12-page motion reads.
The actor also continues his narrative that he was, indeed, telling the truth about what happened to him that fateful day. "Mr. Smollett disputes any and all assertions that he made a false statement and was not a victim of a crime," the document reads. Yet, it does include a part that states even if Smollett did make a false statement to authorities, he wouldn't have had prior knowledge regarding how thorough the investigation would be into his case, therefore he wouldn't know how much money would go behind the manpower.
"The City asserts that the aforementioned two statements foreseeably caused 1,836 hours of overtime of CPD [Chicago Police Department] overtime hours plus untold hours of non-overtime police work,” the court document continues. "But the filing of a police report, in and of itself, does not necessitate a sprawling investigation nor does it, as a practical matter, usually result in an investigation as extensive as the one the CPD chose to undertake in this case; rather, the filing of a police report enables the police and prosecutors to decide whether and how to investigate."
Smollett and his team will find out whether or not the lawsuit against the actor will be dismissed when a judge rules on the matter in October.
