The only black juror in Jussie Smollet’s case speaks out regarding his guilty verdict and what he took from the former Empire actor’s testimony during the trial.
Andre Hope, 63, said he wasn’t pleased to find Smollett guilty of lying to the police and staging a hoax racist, homophobic attack on himself. However, he called the case “sad.”
According to ABC Chicago, the evidence presented was overwhelming, but a lingering question remains unanswered.
“I still have not figured out a motive for why he did, why this had to even happen,” Hope said. “He was a star.”
While Hope said he had never seen an episode of Empire and had minimal knowledge of Smollett and the case, he surprisingly found himself as a juror on the case two weeks ago.
“I was shocked. I was completely shocked that I was even picked,” he said. “At that point, I took it very seriously.”
The 63-year-old resides in Bellwood, Illinois, as a retired Cook County Forest Preserves employee. He’s married with two sons who are around Smollett’s age.
He said the actor’s claim that the Osundairo brothers attacked him was one of the critical portions of the testimony that didn’t make any sense.
“Two o’clock in the morning. Cold outside. When you just use your common sense as what’s there, yeah, it just, it didn’t add up,” said Hope.
Hope added that Smollett mentioning a noose allegedly used during the attack was a vital piece of evidence. The actor said after the attack, he wore the noose, took it off, and put it back on to demonstrate for the police.
“As an African American person, I’m not putting that noose back on at all,” Hope stated.
Though the incident happened two years ago in 2019, Hope said he and other jurors selected never argued, was never deadlocked and took their time to be thorough during nine and a half hours of deliberation. He praised his fellow jurors but said he was saddened to be the only African American on the panel, ABC Chicago reported.
“Because how can we say that this is a jury of your peers when there’s only one African American?” he explained. “And there were plenty there, so you could’ve gotten two, three, four. African Americans can handle the truth, too. And we can give an impartial judgment on a case.”
While Smollett’s career has taken a significant hit, Hope said the actor doesn’t deserve prison time. He also said he hopes Smollett gets a second chance in Hollywood.
