Thread by @djbyrnes1

It's Monday, Dec. 6 and week two of the Jussie #Smollett trial about to get underway. Presiding Cook County Judge James Linn said last week he expects the jury to begin deliberation by no later than Tuesday.

A little late getting started today, which is surprising. Last week Linn was eager to begin testimony every morning by about 9:15 a.m. Currently 9:38 and neither Linn nor the prosecution team is in the courtroom.

Well, the lawyers are starting to trickle in to the courtroom but we're still waiting for Linn.

Alright, lawyers and judge Linn are in court, and court is finally officially in session

Still the defense's case after the prosecution rested its own case last Thursday. For its first witness, defense calls Anthony Moore, a former security associate who worked at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, near where Smollett's alleged took place on Jan. 29, 2019.

Moore says he heard people coming toward him on the night of the alleged attack while he was outside, "a male figure in all black with a mask on... a white male, is what it appeared to be." The Osundairo brothers who claim responsibility for staging the alleged attack are Black.

Moore claims he was pressured by Chicago police and the special prosecutors to say that it was possible he saw a Black man whose skin may have appeared lighter in a flashlight beam, instead of a white man, on the night of the alleged attack.

"It was possible but not probable... After I gave my statement to CPD… I felt pressured to put something out that I didn’t see," Moore said.

Prosecution about to start cross-examining Moore.

As part of his security rounds, Moore says he was exiting a restaurant at the Sheraton Grand Hotel complex, called the Chicago Burger Company, when he saw the men running toward him around 2 a.m.

Prosecution trying to drill down on how short the interaction between Moore and the men he saw was on the night of the alleged attack. By his own admission, only 1 or 2 seconds. But Moore maintains that he saw a white person under the mask, not a Black person.

Prosecution also honing in on the fact that Moore didn't call 911 after he saw Smollett on the ground following the alleged attack; that Smollett didn't call for help and that Moore thought the three were just "fooling around."

Prosecution asks Moore: “You didn’t hear that guy crying?" "You didn’t hear that guy asking for help?” “You thought they were all just fooling around, correct?”
Moore answers in the affirmative to all questions.

Prosecution done with Moore for the moment; defense back for another round of questions.

Defense again asks Moore to confirm he saw a white individual under an open winter mask on the night of the alleged attack. Moore again confirms he did.

Moore dismissed as a witness, and we're in a five minute recess.

Court's back in session. Defense calls Brett Mahoney, a Stanford/Columbia grad and former LA Times legal reporter. Also worked as a writer for "CSI Miami" and a showrunner for "Empire," the show which Smollett used to star in.

Mahoney says he came to Chicago at several points during the filming of Empire and worked closely with Smollett. Says the hate letter Smollett received on the set of Empire rattled the production team.

“We were obviously all very upset. No one would think that Jussie… would be the subject of this hate mail,” Mahoney said. Also said Smollett's security was boosted after receiving the letter.

Contrary to the prosecution's prior assertion that Smollett was upset that "Empire" management didn't take the hate letter seriously enough, Mahoney says Smollett's only objection was there was *too much* added security. “[Smollett's] only complaint was that it was too much.”

No further questions from Defense, Prosecution beginning cross-examination. Prosecutors trying to establish that Smollett and Mahoney are personally close; friends instead of simply business associates.

Prosecution points out that Mahoney, in a tweet, referred to Smollett as a "friend and colleague," alleged personal attacks on whom represented an attack on "what makes America great."

Prosecution asks if Mahoney was sticking up for his friend in the aforementioned tweet. “I was standing up for the rule of law and the American principal of innocent until proven guilty,” Mahoney responds.

Prosecution putting the screws to Mahoney just a bit. After a bit of pressing, prosecutor Samuel Mendenhall gets Mahoney to admit that the "Empire" management team did not go to the press with the fact that Smollett received hate mail.

Prosecution has previously posited that the lack of public attention to the hate letter was a possible motivating factor for Smollett to allegedly stage the attack.

Prosecution wraps, Defense back with a new round of questions for Mahoney.

Defense just asks Mahoney to clarify some details to his testimony, then wraps. Mahoney dismissed as a witness and we're in another recess.

We're back, and Defense just called Jussie Smollett to the witness stand.

Defense just getting Smollett's background for the jury's sake. Mother was a writer, father worked as a cable splicer for Pacific Bell. He has five siblings he's "way close" to, and says he grew up middle class.

Smollett also getting into his siblings' professions. Many of them are in the arts - culinary, acting, producing, etc.

Prosecution objects to this line of questioning as irrelevant. Judge calls a sidebar with the lawyers to discuss the issue.

Smollett discusses starting professional acting at a young age, but denies being a "child star." "I was a working child actor. The Olson twins were child stars," he says.

Defense still establishing Smollett's background for the jury. Talking about his work history, travels to acting gigs in Europe, etc.

Smollett now getting into how he got involved with Empire. Started in 2014, making about $28K per episode. Says he wanted to play the character of Jamal because “I’d never seen a Black man, especially a gay Black man, portrayed that way.” Smollett is openly gay himself.

Prosecution again objects for relevance. Linn overrules the objection.

Defense asking how much Smollett made during the third season of Empire: $80K per episode, for 18 episode. A betting man would wager that the defense is trying to establish that Smollett wouldn't throw away such a good gig with an alleged bogus hate crime stunt.

Defense asks Smollett what he was doing with his newfound Empire wealth, and no sooner does Smollett say "charity," then does prosecution object. This time, Linn sustains the objection.

Smollett says he met Abimbola Osundairo at a club in Chicago in 2017, when Abimbola was working as a background actor on Empire.

Smollett says he got a private room with Abimbola at a gay bathhouse the night they met, wherein they did some drugs and "made out." This contradicts Abimbola's prior testimony that he never had any kind of sexual relationship with Smollett.

Smollett says he did cocaine and weed with Abimbola numerous times after this initial meeting. “I liked it. It got me away from everything else, so to speak,” Smollett said.

"There was a lot of pressure to represent" gay Black men, Smollett says, adding, “This was the time when everything had to be perfect.”

Smollett also saying Abimbola regularly provided him drugs - MDMA, cocaine, weed - at an average price of $200 per transaction. Abimbola corroborated this in his testimony, but denied being a dealer. He characterized himself as a "middle man" between drug dealers and Smollett.

Defense trying to undercut the prosecution's argument that it was suspicious that Smollett's vehicle was seen behind Abimbola's apartment in the days before the alleged attack. Pointing out that Smollett often drove around with Abimbola, and also wrote his music in the car.

Smollett saying he was "creeped out" by Olabinjo Osundairo, Abimbola's older brother. "He took the vibe out of the room." At one point, Smollett says, he and Abimbola ditched Olabinjo to go back to the gay bathhouse and masturbate together.

Defense has previously posited that Olabinjo is homophobic, perhaps violently so. Smollett says he "knew [he] couldn't" trust Olabinjo.

Just as defense begins to get into the $3,500 check that Smollett wrote Abimbola, allegedly for fitness training to prepare for an upcoming music video shoot, Linn calls a break for lunch.

Court will reconvene around 2 p.m. CST.