The criminal cases of well-known Black celebrities Jussie Smollett and Bill Cosby, who were both convicted before their sentences were reversed, differ greatly in specifics yet have significant similarities.
In its ruling that Smollett’s hate crime hoax conviction should be overturned owing to prosecutorial errors, the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday cited a significant resemblance between the cases—a breach of both men’s due process rights.
For identical reasons, the highest court in Pennsylvania overturned Cosby’s 2018 conviction for sexual assault.
Brett M. Rosen, a criminal defense lawyer in New Jersey, told news that the original prosecutors’ agreements, which were later broken by their successors due to public pressure, produced a breach of trust that undoubtedly ruined their individual proceedings.
