'EMPIRE' Star Fakes Hate Crime on Self? Jussie Smollett on Cross Exam Now

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime, News

4.2 • 8.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2021

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Actor Jussie Smollett spends more than six hours on the stand during his first day testifying in his Chicago trial on charges that he faked a hate crime attack on himself. Today, again, 39-year-old Smollett faces prosecutors who say the "Empire" actor was the mastermind of a orchestrated attack. Smollett claimed he was attacked by two men who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. They also left a noose around his neck. Two brothers who worked as extras on “Empire” later came forward and said Smollett had paid them to “attack” him.Joining Nancy Grace Today:Prof. Brian Levin - Director, Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism, California State University (San Bernardino), Co-author: "The Limits of Dissent", CSUSB.edu/Hate-and-Extremism-Center, Twitter: @proflevinLAWYER - Wendy Patrick - California prosecutor, author “Red Flags” www.wendypatrickphd.com 'Today with Dr. Wendy' on KCBQ in San Diego, Twitter: @WendyPatrickPHDDr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA, www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial HospitalJoe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan"Alexis Tereszcuk - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories dot Com, Twitter: @swimmie2009TIP LINE: Chicago Police Department (312) 746-6000

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is D-Day for Empire Star, Jesse Smollett.
0:12.6	He is on-course examination in a court of law.
0:16.8	This is after the star makes the risky decision to throw the dice and take the stand in
0:22.8	his own defense.
0:30.9	Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
0:38.2	Typically a defendant will not take the stand because they cannot endure cross-examination
0:44.1	under the old adage better to remain silent and let people assume you're lying, then speak
0:52.6	and confirm their suspicions.
0:55.8	Well Smollett on the stand, but what if anything does it prove?
1:01.4	Smollett, the star of hit series Empire, claims he was the victim of a racial and gay-based
1:10.6	hate crime when he leaves his high-rise luxury apartment at 2am for a subway and sub-zero
1:19.9	temperatures.
1:22.0	He claims his assailants were waiting for him out in the cold through bleach on him and
1:28.4	tied a noose around his neck.
1:32.3	Is that true?
1:33.5	The other problem with a defendant taking the stand, we all know, all you legal eagles
1:39.0	know that the burden of proving a case is solely on the defendant, on the state's shoulders.
1:45.8	The defendant has to prove nothing at trial.
1:49.3	Absolutely nothing and I have had cases where I put up my case and the defendant says,
1:54.2	we're asked and don't put up anything because they don't have a burden to.
1:59.5	But once the defendant takes the stand, even though it's not the law, the burden seemingly
2:06.6	shifts in the minds of the jurors to is the defendant telling the truth.
	...

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