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Two major cases add up to big doubts about Chicago prosecutor

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2015, file photo, Kim Foxx, then a candidate for Cook County state's attorney, speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Foxx, who became the state's attorney, removed herself from the Smollett case before he was charged, saying she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was handed to First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats. Foxx defended the decision by her staff to drop charges, saying the matter was handled properly. She pointed to Smollett forfeiting his $10,000 bond and doing community service. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2015, file photo, Kim Foxx, then a candidate for Cook County state's attorney, speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Foxx, who became the state's attorney, removed herself from the Smollett case before he was charged, saying she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was handed to First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats. Foxx defended the decision by her staff to drop charges, saying the matter was handled properly. She pointed to Smollett forfeiting his $10,000 bond and doing community service. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File) FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2015, file photo, Kim Foxx, then a candidate for Cook County state's attorney, speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Foxx, who became the state's attorney, removed herself from the Smollett case before he was charged, saying she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was handed to First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats. Foxx defended the decision by her staff to drop charges, saying the matter was handled properly. She pointed to Smollett forfeiting his $10,000 bond and doing community service. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

By Associated Press 4 min read

photo Dueling protestors clash over Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office’s decision to drop all charges against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, Monday, April 1, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

CHICAGO (AP) – Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was elected in 2016 mainly because of anger that the prosecutor she ousted had waited a year to charge a Chicago police officer in the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald. Then Foxx, who is a survivor of sexual assault as a child, grabbed national attention by charging singer R. Kelly with aggravated sexual abuse.

But in the course of just a few days, her reputation as rising political star and legal crusader was badly tarnished by her office’s handling of two celebrity cases involving “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett and Kelly.

The dismissal of all charges against Smollett enraged many, from President Donald Trump to Chicago’s mayor and the city’s police union. They accuse her of allowing Smollett to walk away from faking a hate crime attack and lying about it to police without so much as an apology or admission of guilt.

And adding to her woes, Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg on Monday accused Foxx of caving in to pressure from celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti to charge Kelly. Avenatti, who is accused by federal prosecutors in a separate case of trying to shake down shoe company Nike, said he had provided Foxx with a video of Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

David Erickson, a former state appellate judge who teaches at Chicago-Kent College of Law, said you’d have to go back 50 years to find a Chicago prosecutor so embroiled in controversy. Edward Hanrahan was charged with conspiracy in the deaths of two Black Panther members in a raid by agents from Hanrahan’s office in 1969. He was acquitted, but ultimately ousted by voters.