Accused of lying to police, Jussie Smollett takes the stand

Jussie Smollett has taken the witnesser basal astatine his proceedings wherever helium is facing charges that helium staged a racist, anti-gay onslaught connected himself and lied to Chicago constabulary astir it.

The erstwhile “Empire” histrion is testifying Monday arsenic the proceedings enters its 2nd week and nears a finish.

Two brothers testified past week that Smollett, who is cheery and Black, orchestrated the hoax to get publicity. They said helium paid them to fake the January 2019 onslaught successful downtown Chicago.

Smollett’s attorneys person argued the onslaught was existent and that the brothers made up the communicative astir a hoax past asked the histrion for $1 cardinal each to not attest astatine trial.

The prime of Smollett to attest is risky, but immoderate ineligible experts accidental Smollett’s lone accidental of acquittal is by giving the assemblage different narrative. And, they say, jurors are told not to clasp it against defendants who take not to testify, but they often spell backmost to the deliberation country and bash conscionable that.