Jussie Smollett's Request for a Mistrial Will Have You Literally Laughing out Loud
The trial of Jussie Smollett continues apace. Smollett is accused of making false claims to police after asserting that two racist men attacked him during sub-zero temperatures in Chicago, IL while shouting “This is MAGA country!” That led to days of breathless media coverage elevating Smollett as the victim of a hate crime and blaming Donald Trump for creating an environment where such could happen.
Of course, all evidence points to the fact that it didn’t happen. Yesterday, the two brothers, who Smollett allegedly hired to fake the incident, took the stand and things didn’t go well for the defense. Not only is there a check Smollett wrote to them for their services, but there’s a video of Smollett and the two men doing a dry run the day before, choosing the spot where the “attack” would take place.
I won’t rehash everything as RedState has covered the case extensively since its inception, including the ongoing trial so be sure to check that coverage out.
What do you do when you are losing as a defendant? You start doing desperate things, and Smollett’s lawyers did just that yesterday, requesting a mistrial and personally attacking the judge. So what was the request for? Originally, a sidebar was called so Tamara Walker, a lawyer for Smollett, could request a mistrial based on the judge shutting down a line of questioning which he found irrelevant (it was). Things went downhill from there.
Apparently, she is now accusing the judge of physically “lunging” at her during the sidebar in his chamber. Smollett’s lawyers also accused the judge of visibly “snarling” when he sustained objections.
Yes, Smollett’s legal team is making up wild stories about the judge in a trial that is only happening because Smollett made up a wild story. It’s absolute art, and I promise you this isn’t satire. Here are the details per The New York Post.
While the attorneys were conferring with Linn, Walker claimed he “physically lunged” at her when she presented the motion for a mistrial, a claim the justice vigorously denied and was not witnessed by The Post.
“When you said the word mistrial on these grounds frankly I was stunned you’d even consider a mistrial based on this,” Linn said.
“I marched right back behind my bench,” he continued, adding he didn’t lunge at Walker.
The questioning that got all this started was Walker asking Olabinjo Osundairo, one of the brothers who orchestrated the fake hate crime with Smollett, if he had called someone a “fruity ***” at some point in the past. He had, but the judge ruled the line of questioning wasn’t relevant. Obviously, Osundairo having made offensive remarks in the past does nothing to change the fact he was contracted by Smollett.
That’s when Walker went to the judge to make the request for a mistrial, after which she claimed the judge physically lunged at her. She then started to cry and left the courtroom with her mother (who was there for some reason). Admittedly, I wasn’t aware this was a high-school mock trial. The rest of Smollett’s legal team then made other claims that the judge was snarling at them, again trying to paint him as biased. Walker eventually returned and continued her questioning.
It’s all so absurd. Smollett’s legal team clearly wants to throw as much mud as possible into the gears hoping it gets their client off somehow, but I can’t imagine this stuff working in their favor. Judges, and the system in general, don’t usually reward such game playing.
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