ABC News confirmed that the new charges were laid out in separate groups.
First is from his conversation with the police about being the subject of racial and homophobic slurs, getting physically assaulted and having a rope around his neck in addition with exposure to a chemical substance.
The second is related to another interview with the police describing the incident.
Jussie Smollett’s lawyer is Mark Geragos who has represented the likes of Chris Brown and Michael Jackson. In a report by ABC, Geragos described the 16 counts of felonies as “prosecutorial overkill” and a “desperate attempt to make headlines in order to distract from the internal [CPD] investigation launched to investigate the … leaking of false information.”
Smollet is due to appear in court on 14 March.
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