A federal judge has denied a request from former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett to dismiss the city of Chicago’s lawsuit against him, meaning the city may proceed with its push to reclaim $130,000 it says the police department spent investigating the actor’s allegedly false claims.
In a brief hearing Tuesday morning, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Kendall rejected a dismissal request from Smollett, stating that it was not unreasonable for the Chicago Police Department to direct the resources it did into the high-profile investigation.
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But Smollett’s attorneys claimed that simply filing a police report – whether accurate or not – did not “necessitate a sprawling investigation,” nor does it typically “result in an investigation as extensive as the one the (Chicago Police Department) chose to undertake in this case.”
By submitting that report, they claim, all Smollett did was “enable” Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors to “decide whether and how to investigate.”
Smollett was not present in court Tuesday. His civil attorney William Quinlan told reporters after the hearing he had not yet spoken with his client about the ruling, but said he was not surprised by Kendall’s decision.
“My client has always maintained his innocence,” Quinlan said. “He is happy to have this decided on the facts and believes that when the facts come out, it will show his innocence.”
With the case moving ahead, both sides will now have the opportunity to conduct depositions under oath to try and answer the who, what, when, where and why of Smollett’s alleged attack. That could include the Osundairo brothers, who previously testified under oath before a grand jury just before Smollett was criminally charged.
While those charges were dismissed,
special prosecutor Dan Webb has been appointed to investigate whether further criminal charges are warranted against the actor.
Kendall gave the parties until February 2020 to settle discovery in the civil case and a trial may not begin until next summer.
Quinlan noted it may be more expensive for his client to fight the city’s claims than to just pay the $130,000. But he reiterated that Smollett has maintained his innocence and believes “you don’t put a price tag on that.”
“So he’s willing to spend what it takes to prove his innocence,” he said, “because unfortunately he has been proven guilty in the media more than proven innocent.”