A year after sentencing, Jussie Smollett appeals, claiming his double-jeopardy rights were violated and trial judge was biased

CHICAGO — Nearly a year after being sentenced to five months in jail, only to be released on bond days later, former actor Jussie Smollett has filed his long-awaited appeal claiming his indictment by a special prosecutor was invalid due to double-jeopardy concerns and that the trial judge was biased against him. The 102-page brief filed Wednesday with the Illinois Appellate Court tread mostly familiar ground in the well-worn case against Smollett, the onetime “Empire” star who was convicted by a jury in December 2021 of paying two acquaintances to fake a racist and homophobic attack on him to …

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