Two brothers who previously claimed they were paid to stage an attack on Jussie Smollett have agreed to testify against the actor.
The former ‘Empire’ star was accused of staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself back in January 2019, with Chicago police alleging Abel and Ola Osundario were paid $3,500 to carry out the assault, and after having previously backed out of testifying against Smollett, they’ve now changed their minds again and have said they will take to the stand in court.
Abel and Ola originally refused to testify because they believed police were still treating them as suspects and withholding possessions they had taken during a February 2019 home raid.
But now, it has been reported the items taken in the raid have been recovered, meaning the brothers are once again happy to testify.
Their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez, said in a statement: "Due to the intervention of Special Prosecutor Dan Webb and his team, earlier today we were informed that a properly registered 9mm handgun that was missing from a locked safe seized by the Chicago Police Department on February 14, 2019, has been located.
"The missing gun was a reason for Abel and Ola’s decision to cease voluntary cooperation, in addition to the unnecessary complication brought to this situation by CPD’s Corporate Counsel in treating them like suspects. Abel and Ola will recommence their cooperation in the Smollett case now that the handgun has been produced by the Special Prosecutor’s office."
In March 2019, Jussie was issued with a 16-count felony indictment for filing a false police report, only for the charges to be dropped later that month.
But in February this year, he was indicted once again for allegedly staging the attack and has pleaded not guilty to six charges of disorderly conduct.
The actor initially faced charges for allegedly staging the attack in March, and when charges were dropped, the city of Chicago filed legal documents to sue him in order to pay for the cost of investigating the alleged crime.
Jussie then filed a counter-claim against the city for malicious prosecution, but was told in April the case would not be moving ahead.
However, District Court Judge Virginia Kendall said in her ruling that the 38-year-old star can refile the case if he is found not guilty in his upcoming trial on the original charges of fabricating the assault.