Actor Jussie Smollett has filed a counterclaim in federal court against the city of Chicago, multiple police officers and two brothers, alleging a malicious prosecution caused him economic harm, “humiliation, mental anguish and extreme emotional distress.”
The counterclaim was contained in a 49-page answer to a lawsuit filed by the city against Smollett. It seeks to recover $130,106 for the investigation it conducted after Smollett in January made the allegedly false claim that he’d been the victim of a racist and homophobic beating.
Smollett’s counterclaim targets the city, the Chicago Police Department, Detectives Michael Theis and Edward Wodnicki, Supt. Eddie Johnson and Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, along with other unnamed individuals.
Lawyers for the actor claim police sought to have Smollett prosecuted based on the Osundairo brothers’ “false, self-serving, and unreliable statements in order to close the investigation into the attack on Mr. Smollett.”
They say proceedings against Smollett were terminated “in Mr. Smollett’s favor and in a manner which indicates his innocence because all 16 counts of the criminal indictment were dismissed two and a half weeks after the indictment was filed.”
They also say the city cannot recover costs from Smollett because it already accepted $10,000 from him “as payment in full in connection with the dismissal of the charges against him.”
The counterclaim, filed late Tuesday, follows a decision by U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall not to toss the city’s lawsuit against Smollett. In her ruling, Kendall wrote, “the city must prove the truth of these allegations to prevail at summary judgment or trial, at which point Smollett will be free to dispute the city’s claims.”
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
