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According to an official from his own office, state attorney, Kim Foxx, did not have the power to appoint his high-ranking deputy to act on his behalf after he was challenged Jussie Smollett case.
Foxx is "desisted" from herself after learning that she had exchanged text messages with a member of Smollett's family in the days following the incident.
She then handed over the case to her deputy, Joe Magats, and weeks later, the 16 counts against Smollett were dropped.
Alan Spellberg, Supervisor of the Criminal Appeals Section of the Attorney 's Office, said in an email, a day after the announcement of the challenge, that the appointment of Magats after being recused does not make any difference. was not allowed.
Thousands of texts and e-mails relating to the case were made public and handed over to CBS Chicago by the state attorney's office, Kim Foxx, as criticism of his treatment of the case was growing.
Quoting the case law, Spellberg wrote: "All of these authorities concluded that even though the Attorney General had full discretion to recuse himself, he simply could not order anyone (even the first badistant) to do anything about it. act in its place ".
The email was sent to April Perry, Chief Attorney General and Chief Ethics Officer, and Robert Foley, Senior Advisor, on February 20 – a day after Foxx announced it was recusing itself.
The State Attorney's Office told the New York Post Foxx "was not included in Alan Spellberg's e-mail and was unaware of its existence or content".
They stated: "The state's lawyer was challenged at the time of Mr Spellberg's opinion and therefore was not arrested. [sic] informed of the email or its contents. "
State Attorney Kim Foxx, left, had no authority to appoint her senior deputy, Joe Magats, to the right, to act on her behalf after she was challenged Jussie Smollett case, according to an official in his own office.
The supervisor of the criminal appeals section of the state attorney's office, Alan Spellberg, said in an email that the appointment of Magats after being recused was not allowed.
While she had announced at the time that she was recusing herself, she has since said that she understood this by a "familiar" sense rather than a "legal sense" and that it was more of a informal decision to "move away from decision making". than remove it entirely.
And the messages now show that a few weeks after that decision, Foxx continued to meddle in the case, calling Smollett "washed-up celebrity who lied to the cops" and informing Magats that the actor was overloaded.
In messages sent to Magats, she also appeared to compare the charges brought by Smollett with those against another accused, R. Kelly.
She said: "Pedophile with 4 victims, 10 counts of indictment. Washed celebrity who lied to the cops, 16. "
Foxx was referring to the grand jury indictment of 16 counts against which Smollett was accused of organizing a hoax attack against himself on January 29.
She added, "In a case that may be subject to delayed prosecution, I think that indicates something that we should look at in general terms. This is not because we can charge something we should do it. & # 39;
"Agreed," Magats replied.
Kim Foxx sent these text messages to his deputy on March 8, after a grand jury indicted Smollett for 16 counts of lying to the police. She had already "recused herself" for speaking to Smollett's family, but had continued to interfere in the case by informing her MPs that the charges were excessive. The charges were dropped two weeks later
The 36-year-old case against Smollett was suddenly and unexpectedly abandoned last month by Foxx's office in dubious circumstances. Since then, issues relating to Foxx's alleged role in this decision have grown in importance.
Magats said in an interview afterwards that he still believed that Smollett was guilty. Foxx baderted that it was never his decision to have the charges waived in exchange for Smollett's $ 10,000 bail bond or the completion of his community service.
New public messages also reveal just how much a group of employees worries about the media coverage of the case, regularly sharing press articles among themselves within a group called "Foxxhole."
Foxx said it was "not who we want to be" to accuse someone "because we can do it" despite a grand jury that ruled the 16 clbad 4 crimes
In messages sent two weeks before this decision, Foxx, who has since been the subject of repeated calls to give up his handling of the record, writes: "Sooo …… I I am challenged, but when people accuse us of overloading cases .. .16 relies on a clbad 4 becomes part A.
She continues: "Pedophile with 4 victims, 10 counts of accusation. Washed celebrity who lied to the cops, 16. "
Magats responds: "Yes. I can see where this can be considered excessive.
Additional messages show that Foxx answers "yes … it's not who we want to be" in response to a message from his colleague Magats saying that he will be looking closely at how we charge the cases.
Magats writes, "I'll go with Risa and Jim. With him, we can look closely at how we charge business and come up with something that covers what needs to be covered without being excessive and ultimately useless. & # 39;
It is thought that Risa is Attorney Risa Lanier, we do not know who Jim refers to.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Foxx said: "After the indictment became public, I contacted Joe to discuss the office's policy review in order to to ensure the consistency of our charges and our use of proper charging powers.
"I was elected to bring about criminal justice reform, which includes intentionality, consistency and discretion. I will continue to defend these guiding principles.
Other messages show how much the office has struggled to "anticipate the magnitude of the reaction" to its decision.
Smollett was arrested in February for allegedly lied about the attack. Police say that he paid Abel and Ola Osundairo to attack him and that he thought he could use it as a means of pressure to get an increase in Empire, saying that 39, he denies
Other texts, revealed Tuesday night, show that staff members exchanging messages in a group called "Foxxhole" worried about the media coverage of the case.
When Smollett was arrested on February 21, prosecutors said it was "a total shock." They then accused the police department of having "leaked" to the press and shared articles that they thought came from the police
The office released Tuesday nearly 200 screen captures of texts and more than 3,600 pages of emails.
The actor of the Empire was accused of being attacked on January 29 to try to get an increase in the series.
After the charges were removed, the office staff began receiving requests for responses from the press. Keira Ellis, one of the communication teams, told colleagues: "Good speed to all"
He is now facing legal action after refusing to pay $ 130.106 in overtime, accumulated by the police who investigated the January incident and which, according to the authorities, now constitute an organized attack.
The star is currently on vacation with her family in Hawaii where he seemed tense during an animated phone call, telling a friend that "it's over, I'm down".
Police said he had paid Abel and Ola Osundairo for hitting him in what he had described as a racist and homophobic attack by two Trump-loving writers. He always maintained his innocence and insisted that he was attacked.
Smollett told the police on January 29 that two suspected supporters of President Trump had hit him, had tied the rope around his neck and had poured bleach on him, shouting: "C & C Is the country of MAGA ".
He told the officers that the unknown chemical had been used on him while "Empire f ****" and "Empire n *****" were being shouted to him.
The investigators then claimed to believe that Smollett may have paid $ 3,500 to Abimbola & # 39; Abel & # 39; and Olabinjo & Ola & # 39; Osundairo to badault him during an alleged orchestrated attack.
CALENDAR OF THE SMOLLETT CASE AND THE FOXX RECUSAL
January 29: Smollett reports an attack on the police
February 2: Kim Foxx communicates with Tina Tchen, on behalf of the Smollett family, and relatives of Smollett
February 19: Foxx announces that it recuses itself
February 20th: Alan Spellberg said in an email naming Magats after being recused, but that she was not allowed
the 21st of February: Smollett is arrested
8 March: Grand jury indict Smollett on 16 clbad 4 crimes punishable by 48-year prison sentence
Texts Foxx Magats, the MP, she said, telling him that it was excessive.
March 26: Expenses suddenly dropped after Smollett completed community service and fined $ 10,000
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