Jussie Smollett, 39, arrives with his mom and sister for closing arguments in his 'hoax' race attack trial after getting prosecutor to APOLOGIZE for saying N-word when reading out HIS texts in court
Jussie Smollett has arrived in court to hear closing arguments in his hoax race attack trial, before the case goes to the jury.
The 39-year-old actor was pictured arriving on Wednesday surrounded by his family, who have supported him throughout.
He maintains his innocence and has offered different defenses throughout the trial; first, his attorneys said he was attacked by brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo because they 'hated' who he was and are homophobic.
Then they suggested that the pair wanted to scare him into thinking that he needed security, and that he'd hire them as his bodyguards.
The brothers say Smollett paid them $3500 to carry out the attack so that he'd get more attention, and that he never intended for the case to be reported to police much less become a national scandal.
The jury of five white men, five white women, one Hispanic woman and one black man will have to consider six counts of felony disorderly conduct.
All are class four felonies, the least serious, and carry a maximum sentence of three years behind bars each, but attorneys say they don't think it's likely Smollett - who has no criminal record - will spend 'a day in jail.'
The 39-year-old actor was pictured arriving on Wednesday surrounded by his family, who have supported him throughout. His mother Janet is shown, left, and sister Jurnee is shown, right
Smollett has arrived with his family every day for the trial. They say they believe him, and that he is the victim of a racist police force that didn't want to ever believe him
Smollett holds hands with his mother Janet on his way into the courtroom on Wednesday morning
Smollett says brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundauro (left and right) are lying in their claims he paid them to attack him. He says he and Abimbola (left) had a sexual relationship in the past but that Ola (right) 'creeped' him out
On Tuesday, he became agitated with special prosecutor Dan Webb for repeating the N word aloud while reading private Instagram messages that Smollett had sent Abel Osundairo while flying from New York City to Chicago in the hours before the attack.
He asked Webb not to use the word for the sake of 'every African American' in the courtroom. When Webb apologized, Smollett snapped: 'Apology accepted but it's been used a lot.'
He refused to acknowledge that it was Abel and Ola who attacked him on January 29, 2019, saying he doesn't believe a word they say because they are 'liars', but he also admitted changing his description of his attackers from 'white' to 'pale' early on in the investigation because he thought it was 'the responsible thing to do.'
Smollett repeatedly denied staging the attack and snarked at Webb during one line of questioning: 'I don't know. You'd have to ask someone who staged a hate crime.'
Smollett also claimed that in the days before the stunt, when prosecutors claimed he and the brothers were rehearsing the attack, they were actually getting together to smoke marijuana.
He maintains that he did think the pair were light skinned when they attacked him and that he couldn't see them both properly.
He told the jury that he thinks they staged the attack on him to try to scare him into thinking he needed bodyguards, and to give them the job.
A court sketch of Jussie Smollett squaring off with prosecutor Dan Webb in court in Chicago on Tuesday as he took the stand for a second day
The brothers, who testified last week, told the jury Smollett hired them to fake the attack because he wanted to boost his celebrity profile.
On Tuesday, the actor insisted this was never the case and that he 'hates' attention.
He said on Monday that he would never have involved the police because he doesn't trust them.
'One, I am a Black man in America I do not trust police... I am also a well known figure and I’m openly gay … I want to play a boxer, I want to play a superhero... the moment I got beat I become a f****t who got his ass whooped,' he told the court on Monday when asked why he didn't call the cops.
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