This holiday season has been filled with controversial cases. There was the Kyle Rittenhouse acquittal, the convictions related to Ahmaud Arbery's murder, and now Jussie Smollett is having his day in court. The actor is accused of wasting the Chicago Police Department's time and resources by allegedly staging an assault for publicity, and it is an accusation that Smollett has denied for years.
This case has taken a turn now that Smollett's attorney reportedly called for a mistrial. According to the New York Post, Tamara Walker claims that while questioning Olabinjo Osundairo, one of the brothers who claim Smollett hired them, about his reportedly past use of homophobic language, the judge shut down the defense.
Judge James Linn reportedly dismissed the line of questioning and Walker asked for a sidebar. She alleges that Linn "physically lunged" at her during the chat and witnesses stated that Walker looked as if she was on the verge of tears. The remaining members of Smollett's legal team requested the mistrial. They were denied.
“When you said the word mistrial on these grounds, frankly I was stunned you’d even consider a mistrial based on this,” Linn said, denying that he lunged at the attorney. “I marched right back behind my bench."
Heather Widell, another attorney, claimed that Linn has used nonverbal indicators in front of the jury, including "snarling" when sustaining objections from the prosecution.
[via]
