Jussie Smollett trial: Did judge James Linn really LUNGE at actor's attorney?
Jussie Smollett's alleged hate crime trial began in court on November 30 and his attorneys are pushing for a mistrial. For the uninitiated, Smollett had claimed he was attacked by two men who launched a racist and homophobic attack on him and later yelled "This is MAGA country" at him as a reference to former President Donald Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again". Smollett's story fell apart after brothers Abimbola and Olabinja Osundairo who were a suspect in this case were detained for questioning and they confessed to being a part of this hoax for money. The color of the brothers' skin too was opposite of what Smollett had stated. Smollett wrote a check of $3,500 to Abimbola for personal training and nutrition.
Then-Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson had said that the brothers confessed to the plot. Smollett was at the helm and he "took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career." Johnson added that the 'Empire' actor was "dissatisfied with his salary so he concocted a story about being attacked." At the trial this week, the actor's defense argued that Chicago police rusked to a conclusion in the case and were quick to judge him. Police detective Michael Theis countered this saying investigators clocked in 3000 hours before concluding Smollett had staged a hoax, according to the Associated Press.
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Smollett's defense attorney Nenye Uche argued in court that his client was a "real victim of real crime" and quashed the prosecution's claims that the 2019 incident was a hoax that he staged after the TV studio he worked with didn't pay heed to the hate mail he had received. Uche said the Osundairo brothers indeed attacked Smollett who had paid them for training him for a music video. He also added that a third person was involved in the attack as well, implying that this person was white while also saying that there is not a "shred" of evidence both physical and forensic that proves Smollett's involvement in the crime.
On Thursday, December 2, Smollett's attorney Tamara Walker was grilling Olabinjo about his alleged derogatory remarks towards suspected gay men. He recalled calling a man "fruity ass" and Walker then asked if Smollett who is openly gay, was aware of him saying such things in the past. Judge James Linn described the line of questioning as "collateral" before telling the jury this interrogation was irrelevant to the case at hand. Walker then asked for a sidebar and presented the motion for a mistrial over a comment Linn had made, began crying, and then alleged the judge "physically lunged" at her, a claim that Linn denied.
“When you said the word mistrial on these grounds frankly I was stunned you’d even consider a mistrial based on this,” Linn was heard saying in court. New York Post mentioned they didn't witness the incident in court. CBS2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said he has yet to hear an attorney make such allegations against a judge. “Never seen it happen,” Miller said. “This is a first even for me – I’ve been doing this a long time. But I’ve never seen an attorney accuse a judge of doing anything such as this attorney announced in court that occurred in Judge Linn.” He also added that this incident won't affect the trial as the jury was not present in the courtroom when it allegedly took place.