CHICAGO _ A Cook County judge shot down a bid Wednesday by Jussie Smollett to reconsider his decision to appoint a special prosecutor in the controversial case against the actor.
Judge Michael Toomin began the brief hearing by denying a request by Smollett's attorneys to have the matter heard by a different judge, then said they were too late to intervene at all.
The judge agreed to appoint a special prosecutor more than a month ago but has not yet announced his choice for the post.
Smollett's attorney, Tina Glandian, argued that the actor has a direct, urgent interest in seeking to reverse the decision to appoint a special prosecutor.
For one, Toomin's order gives the prosecutor wide power to potentially charge Smollett all over again.
"We were obviously aware of these proceedings. However, we were not aware that the court's order was going to go as far as it did," Glandian told the judge. "... It actually boggles my mind that he wouldn't be allowed to intervene in light of the court's order."
Toomin maintained, though, that any threat to Smollett was purely hypothetical at this point.
"Re-prosecution ... may only occur if considerations are met, i.e., reasonable grounds exist to re-prosecute Mr. Smollett," the judge said. "Whatever my opinion might be really has no bearing because that is up to the special prosecutor."
Toomin gave no indication Wednesday of when he might announce his appointment.
Smollett, who is black and openly gay, created an international media firestorm in late January when he reported being the victim of an attack by two people shouting racist and homophobic slurs.
Weeks later, he was criminally charged for allegedly staging the attack with the help of two brothers whom police said he agreed to pay $3,500. Less than three weeks after his 16-count indictment, however, State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office dropped all charges against Smollett with little explanation.
The twisting legal saga took another strange turn in June when Toomin said he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into the sudden dismissal.
Earlier this month, in their long-shot bid asking Toomin to reconsider, Smollett's attorneys laid out their defense in the greatest detail yet, claiming the actor had twice been victimized: first when he was attacked by two homophobic brothers and then when the brothers framed him by lying to police.
