Jussie Smollett facing new criminal charges.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Dan Webb, a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, was appointed by a Chicago judge as special prosecutor to investigate the why the Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped charges of 16 counts of disorderly conduct against Jussie Smollett in March 2019 following Smollett's January 2019 report of a purported racist and homophobic attack against himself that January. Following Smollett's report, it was determined by Chicago Police in investigation that the alleged attack had been staged by Smollett.

 

Smollett will be back in court on February 24 to face new criminal charges that could end in potential jailtime.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Dan K. Webb, per Wikipedia:

 

Webb is a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, serving from 1981 to 1985. From 1970 to 1976, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in the special prosecutions division of the U.S. attorney's office of the Northern District of Illinois.

 

....

 

Private practice

After leaving public service, his focus was on defense, especially of white-collar crime and allegations of corporate malfeasance. He was lead defense trial counsel for General Electric in a price-fixing case; represented Microsoft in antitrust litigation; and represented Philip Morris in its tobacco-related litigation.

 

He the co-executive chairman of Winston & Strawn, an international law firm with nearly 1,000 attorneys in 16 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, with gross revenue of $985 million in 2017. According to Chambers and Partners, Webb is one of the top seven trial lawyers in the United States. Webb represented Bill Gates and Microsoft in the United States v. Microsoft Corp, the New York Stock Exchange as chief counsel in a dispute involving $120 million in compensation paid to their former chairman and CEO Richard Grasso, General Electric in a price-fixing case, Philip Morris in its $300 billion tobacco-related litigation, Verizon in obtaining a $58 million verdict in a patent litigation matter with Vonage, Guggenheim Partners in litigation related to their $2.2 billion acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Beef Products Inc. in obtaining over $177 million, the largest ever settlement in the United States for a media defamation case, and other Fortune 100 corporations in litigation including BP, Boeing, JPMorgan Chase, Ernst & Young, Pfizer, and Deloitte. Webb has tried over 100 jury cases.

[Beechwoodfan]

If he is guilty, I hope he is punished. There are enough problems with race relations without creating one just to get attention.

[GrantNKY]

If he is guilty, I hope he is punished. There are enough problems with race relations without creating one just to get attention.

I don’t think guilt is really what’s at play here. It’s been proven that the whole thing was staged.

[Beechwoodfan]

I don’t think guilt is really what’s at play here. It’s been proven that the whole thing was staged.

 

Not in court it hasn’t. He needs to face legal consequences if/when he is found guilty.

[GrantNKY]

Not in court it hasn’t. He needs to face legal consequences if/when he is found guilty.

Agreed. He won’t ever be found guilty though. It will settle out of court.

[theguru]

Agreed. He won’t ever be found guilty though. It will settle out of court.

 

Criminal cases don't (or at least are not supposed to) "settle out of court" and the evidence is overwhelming so if there is a not guilty verdict it will be an interesting case study.

[JDEaston]

Criminal cases don't (or at least are not supposed to) "settle out of court" and the evidence is overwhelming so if there is a not guilty verdict it will be an interesting case study.

 

Technically you are right. However in most instances something like this will mostly be handled outside of the courtroom, in the sense of a plea deal, diversion, etc.

 

I don't see any way he doesn't take a plea deal that admits guilt rather than going to trial. Going to trial and risking possible jail time would be a bad move on his part. The plea deal would likely be some type of diversion that will be removed from his record once completed and probably some restitution to be paid back for the resources wasted during the original investigation.

[theguru]

Technically you are right. However in most instances something like this will mostly be handled outside of the courtroom, in the sense of a plea deal, diversion, etc.

 

I don't see any way he doesn't take a plea deal that admits guilt rather than going to trial. Going to trial and risking possible jail time would be a bad move on his part. The plea deal would likely be some type of diversion that will be removed from his record once completed and probably some restitution to be paid back for the resources wasted during the original investigation.

 

That would be a guilty plea and the "opposite" of what Grant was suggesting.

[theguru]

Technically you are right. However in most instances something like this will mostly be handled outside of the courtroom, in the sense of a plea deal, diversion, etc.

 

I don't see any way he doesn't take a plea deal that admits guilt rather than going to trial. Going to trial and risking possible jail time would be a bad move on his part. The plea deal would likely be some type of diversion that will be removed from his record once completed and probably some restitution to be paid back for the resources wasted during the original investigation.

 

I am not sure I agree with you there, I mean, I can see him taking a plea deal but the case is so strong that any plea deals may include jail time.

 

I also think "diversion" in a case like this is way beyond the scope of the diversionary process.

[JDEaston]

That would be a guilty plea and the "opposite" of what Grant was suggesting.

 

Ah I missed the part where he said he wouldn't ever be found guilty lol. I don't really see any way that he gets a not guilty verdict or the charges dropped. I'm curious what the punishment from a plea deal will be though, I doubt it will be much. He should be hit hard monetarily though, imo. As I imagine there was a ton of money wasted on this investigation considering how high profile it was.

[JDEaston]

I am not sure I agree with you there, I mean, I can see him taking a plea deal but the case is so strong that any plea deals may include jail time.

 

I also think "diversion" in a case like this is way beyond the scope of the diversionary process.

 

I don't disagree with you there, I feel like jail time is deserved as well. I just don't see that happening. I feel like he will get a diversion or probation and have to pay restitution for resources used in the investigation. Assuming he doesn't have anything serious on his prior record, I honestly haven't heard anything about that.

[theguru]

I don't disagree with you there, I feel like jail time is deserved as well. I just don't see that happening. I feel like he will get a diversion or probation and have to pay restitution for resources used in the investigation. Assuming he doesn't have anything serious on his prior record, I honestly haven't heard anything about that.

 

If the punishment is just going to be probation I think going through all this again is a waste of time.

[JDEaston]

If the punishment is just going to be probation I think going through all this again is a waste of time.

 

I agree and I hope I'm wrong, I just don't see him doing any jail time. But I'm not really familiar with Illinois judicial system and how strict they are and I know nothing about his past criminal record, or whether he even has one.

 

That said, his recent indictments are getting no where near the attention that the alleged hate crime on him did, so I really don't see much coming from it other than whatever they decide he owes them for tying up resources. I hope it doesn't play out that way because innocent people could have been accused, tried and convicted for his fabricated story. Which could have put innocent people in prison for a long time.

[theguru]

I agree and I hope I'm wrong, I just don't see him doing any jail time. But I'm not really familiar with Illinois judicial system and how strict they are and I know nothing about his past criminal record, or whether he even has one.

 

That said, his recent indictments are getting no where near the attention that the alleged hate crime on him did, so I really don't see much coming from it other than whatever they decide he owes them for tying up resources. I hope it doesn't play out that way because innocent people could have been accused, tried and convicted for his fabricated story. Which could have put innocent people in prison for a long time.

 

It is old news and frankly not the kind of thing the mainstream media likes to report on.