Smollett

I’ve never seen Jussie Smollett perform, and I have no idea what he does.  Also, I really don't care.  He’s back in the news because he’s been indicted (again) for a false report of a “hate crime.”

The Chicago prosecutor got an indictment last year.  Then, she dismissed the original indictment with prejudice, meaning that the case could not be refiled.  I assume his defense now will file a motion to dismiss, and I don’t know Illinois law for how that will go.

But, but, but – We may not like it, but dismissing the case was a legitimate exercise of prosecutorial discretion.  Supposedly, it was done because Michelle Obama made a call to the prosecutor.  That may be tacky, but it’s not illegal.  I would be illegal to pay the prosecutor or to make a deal for illegal favors, but I’ve not heard any allegation of that.

But the prosecutor’s approach was stupid and disrespectful of the police.  The prosecutor and the police are supposed to be on the same side.  They are supposed to be respectful of each other.  If they have a disagreement, the door needs to be closed and they need to work it out.  That the police found out after the case was dismissed made them feel disrespected – which they were.

Had this occurred in West Virginia, I hope it would have been disposed of quick and easy.  In WV, a false report is a misdemeanor.  (Actually, current assistant prosecutor J. T. Hodges, III, and I wrote the WV statute in 1984, WV Code Section 61-6-20.)   As a prosecutor, I would have offered a guilty plea to the misdemeanor, probation, restitution for the heavy costs of the police investigation (and made it bankruptcy-proof), and consigned the defendant to the dustbin of history.  

You can’t have uneven justice, even if you don’t like the defendant.  The prosecutors have too much important stuff to do.

You don’t want favors called in?  Vote for a different prosecutor.  You don’t mind?  Vote for whatever-the-prosecutor’s-name -is.  Easy.  Only Cook Countians will determine that.

Mizpah!