Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx can’t go anywhere these days without getting blasted by local and state officials who are rightly upset at her office’s questionable decision to drop all charges in the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax case.
This week has been no exception. ABC 7 Chicago reports on a vote of “no confidence” the embattled state’s attorney received from police unions and chiefs just yesterday:
The Chicago police union and dozens of Cook County police chiefs banded together Thursday to announce a “no confidence” vote in State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. The press conference came after her office’s controversial decision to drop charges against Jussie Smollett over his alleged staged attack.
They gathered at the FOP headquarters over what they claim is Foxx’s mishandling of certain felony cases.
“We cannot stand for this any longer Kim Foxx needs to resign and she should do it quickly,” said Kevin Graham, FOP President.
“She’s putting criminals back on the street either during the process, not charging then at all or allowing them on the street to commit again,” said Steven Stelter, West Suburban Chiefs of Police Association. “Many times the hoops we have to go through to get a felony charge and most of the time they are not approved or charges dismissed in court without an officer’s opinion.”
As I wrote earlier, police had alleged that the actor staged a fake hate crime in order to keep his job and get more money for his role on the hit TV show “Empire.” After the announcement that the charges were dropped, Foxx was put on the hot seat not only by the Chicago FOP, but by the Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association, who questioned her office’s decision and suggested possible illegality for not formally recusing herself after being contacted by a former Michelle Obama aide about the case.
On top of the no confidence vote, the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that a former assistant state’s attorney has called for an investigation into the actions of his former office and Foxx herself regarding their handling of the Smollett case:
A South Side attorney filed a petition Thursday asking for a special prosecutor to look into whether “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett should be re-charged with staging a hate crime as well as whether Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx or her subordinates interfered with the investigation.
The filing by Saani Mohammed, who until recently was an assistant state’s attorney in Foxx’s office, marked the first formal request that a special prosecutor be appointed since the bombshell decision last week to drop all charges against Smollett.
Saying Foxx’s handling of the case was “plagued with irregularity,” Mohammed’s 10-page petition asked that presiding Criminal Court Judge Leroy Martin Jr. appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether Foxx “acted to impede the investigation … concealed evidence, and/or intentionally misled the public.”
Can Smollett even be recharged? Yes:
for the record, quite a few attorney sources have told me that Smollett could technically be re-charged. Since the charges were dismissed before they even got within spitting distance of trial, it wouldn't fall under double jeopardy.
— Megan Crepeau (@crepeau) April 5, 2019
We shall see.
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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–
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