Kim Foxx, the State’s Attorney for Cook County, IL, is sitting in a seat that’s getting hotter by the hour. While her office allowed Jussie Smollett to waltz away from any charges, the good people of Chicago are not so willing to let her skate.

First of all, while Foxx claimed that she recused herself from the Smollett case, it appears that she really didn’t recuse herself at all. Illinois state law requires that the SA must file a petition to recuse him or herself, whereupon a court would appoint a special prosecutor:

“[T]he State’s Attorney may file a petition to recuse himself or herself from a cause or proceeding for any other reason he or she deems appropriate and the court shall appoint a special prosecutor as provided in this Section.”

But Foxx didn’t file any such petition. Instead, she foisted the case off onto Joseph Magats, her first assistant. Her “recusal” was as fraudulent as Jussie’s hate crime story.

Kim Foxx. Cropped from Daniel X. O’Neil at flickr. CC by 2.o.

Furthermore, as Martin Preib, a Vice President with the Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago, asked:

“What underling is going to go against their boss’s wishes?”

And then there’s the sweetheart deal Kim Foxx gave to Jussie Smollett. But there’s nothing to see here, said Tandra Simonton, Foxx’s spokeswoman. We do this all the time:

“This is not a new or unusual practice. . . .We did not exonerate Mr. Smollett. The charges were dropped in return for Mr. Smollett’s agreement to do community service and forfeit his $10,000 bond to the City of Chicago. Without the completion of these terms, the charges would not have been dropped.” 

Kim Foxx herself defended her handling of the case on Chicago TV:

And if you believe that, I have some tickets to Chicago White Sox playoff games later this year.

However, the good folks at CWB Chicago, a Chicago crime blog, did a little digging into those claims. As a result, they found court records that tell a whole other tale.

First of all, Jussie Smollett was charged with 16 felony counts. It took only 33 days to resolve the case, which the state dropped. However, compare that to what happened to these poor schlubs who also made false police reports:

Tourists RR and KM were accused of falsely reporting to Chicago police that they were robbed of $20,000 in cash and property when their GPS led them into Lower Wacker Drive.

Days to resolution: 11 months (RR), 13 months (KM)
Outcome: RR pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two-years probation, 30 hours of community service, and fined $584. KM also pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to two-years probation, five days time served, 30 hours of community service, and she was fined $447. Both will have criminal records in Cook County.

Here’s a guy who claimed robbery at his restaurant:

JV reported that he had been restrained, battered, and robbed at gunpoint in the manager’s office of a restaurant that he operates. Police alleged that an investigation involving video review and witness statements revealed that no crime occurred. When confronted with the accusations, JV asked for an attorney, police said.

Days to resolution: Ongoing. The case is 50 weeks old.

And here’s what happened to a woman who filed a false battery report:

Police said CJ filed a false report for battery.

Days to resolution: 7 days
Outcome: Prosecutors reduced the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor. CJ pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year of court supervision and 60 hours of community service. Because she was required to plead guilty, she has a criminal record.

However, those are only three examples, and you can read even more instances here. 

But Kim Foxx’s office is feeling such heat that on Wednesday this memo went out to supervising prosecutors:

Internal emailing circulated throughout the State’s Attorneys office today.

Office looking for examples of other cases where charges have been dropped.

One day after charges were droped on Jussie Smollett. pic.twitter.com/5qrzYcw8N7

— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) March 27, 2019

“Nobody is in trouble,” reads that internal memo. However, it’s Kim Foxx who should be in deep doo-doo, but undoubtedly the politicos and cronies will let her off the hook. After all, Toni Preckwinkle, mayoral candidate and chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, was the one who steered Foxx into her job. As Chicago Tribune writer John Kass wrote: “But this is Chicago, and is there anything, really, that surprises Chicago anymore?”

That’s not likely, because this is just another example of the Chicago Way.

Featured image: cropped from Murati @ pixabay/pixabay license.