AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
A Chicago jury has reached a verdict in the trial of actor Jussie Smollett. Smollett, formerly of the TV series "Empire," has been found guilty of lying to police about an anti-gay, racist attack on himself in 2019. Chip Mitchell of member station WBEZ was at the courthouse for the verdict. And, Chip, first, can you tell us about the charges? What did the jury have to say?
CHIP MITCHELL, BYLINE: Yeah. Well, Jussie Smollett, the actor, he was convicted on five counts of felony disorderly conduct. He was also acquitted of one count. It was the sixth count. It was the one that alleged he gave a false report to police two weeks after first reporting the crime.
CORNISH: Can you remind us the story - or the timeline, so to speak? What did Smollett tell the police happened back in 2019?
MITCHELL: Well, he reported he was the victim of an attack on a cold winter night in downtown Chicago. It was January 2019. The two men approached him, yelling the name of his show and hurling anti-gay, racist slurs, that they yelled a slogan of President Trump's campaign and that they roughed him up, and then they looped a noose around his neck and doused him with bleach.
CORNISH: Now, at some point, police suspected him of lying. Two men came forward to say that they had been paid to be part of a hoax. Can you talk about reaction in the courtroom today?
MITCHELL: Well, yeah. Early on in the investigation, the police held two brothers who worked on "Empire," on Smollett's show, for nearly two days. And officials say that was when Smollett that went from being considered a victim to being considered - to being suspected of staging the attack. Now, in court, Smollett tried to stick to his story. He said one of the men who attacked him looked white. He denied staging the incident. But the prosecutors had the two brothers testifying that Smollett hired them for the hoax. And so to a large extent, it came down to whether the jury believed those brothers or the actor. And, well, it came down; they did not believe the actor.
CORNISH: Has there been a response following this verdict from either side?
MITCHELL: Yeah. Both sides have actually spoken here in the courthouse. The special prosecutor for this case, his name is Dan Webb. He spoke here just a bit ago. He said the verdict shows that the jury found that Smollett lied on the witness stand. And Webb said that will affect the punishment he seeks in sentencing. Now, Smollett's lead attorney, his name's Nenye Uche. He also spoke. He said this trial did not serve justice. He promised an appeal, and he said Smollett, the actor, is confident this verdict will be overturned.
CORNISH: That's Chip Mitchell of member station WBEZ with the latest on the Jussie Smollett case. Just a reminder, he has been found guilty of lying to police about an attack, an alleged attack, on himself in 2019. Thank you so much for your reporting.
MITCHELL: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
