According to the DevnorGazette:
Jussie Smollett’s attorneys want a state appellate court to release the actor from jail while his appeal is pending, according to recent court filings arguing that Smollett’s time in custody could put his mental and physical health at risk.
Smollett’s family, meanwhile, is echoing the actor’s extraordinary statement after sentencing, saying he is strong and has no desire to hurt himself.
The Cook County sheriff’s office, which operates the jail, has said detainee safety is a top priority. At his attorneys’ request Smollett has been placed in protective custody, with cameras in his cell and an officer with a body-worn camera outside his door at all times. Smollett will have no contact with other detainees, but can have time outside his cell to make phone calls and watch TV, the office has said.
While Smollett was sentenced last week to 150 days in jail, he is eligible for good behavior credit that would cut that time in half, putting his anticipated release date in late May.
Records show Smollett is being held at Cermak Health Services, the jail’s on-site medical facility. In a video posted to Smollett’s Instagram, his brother Jocqui stated that Smollett is in a “psych ward” with a note in his cell saying he is at risk of self-harm.
A spokesperson for Cook County Health, which operates Cermak, declined to comment, saying they could not release someone’s medical information without that person’s signed consent.
“He is very stable, he is very strong, he is very healthy and ready to take on the challenge that ultimately has been put up against him,” Jocqui Smollett said in the video.
Smollett’s team on Monday morning released audio of a menacing phone call received by one of Smollett’s siblings, which uses racist and homophobic terms and threatens harm to Smollett in jail.
Smollett’s attorneys want him released from jail while they argue to a higher court that his conviction should be thrown out. Among other arguments, they said in a filing Friday, Smollett’s second prosecution violated his double-jeopardy rights.
