Smollett to Cops: Not My Fault You Spent So Much

Jussie Smollett's legal team says "it's ridiculous and a stretch" to make him pay Chicago $130,000 to cover the cost of the police investigation into his alleged attack in January, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. "The filing of a police report, in and of itself, does not necessitate a sprawling investigation nor does it, as a practical matter, usually result in an investigation as extensive as the one CPD chose to undertake in this case," William J. Quinlan writes in a 12-page motion asking to have a city lawsuit against Smollett thrown out, per the Chicago Tribune. In other words, it was the city's decision, not Smollett's, to spend so much.

"It's going to be very difficult for the city to prevail" since a 16-count indictment alleging Smollett staged the attack was dismissed in March, Quinlan writes. He calls the lawsuit "a vindictive effort to prosecute charges that the State's Attorney pursued and then chose to drop," per Page Six. A special prosecutor was appointed last month to look into that decision, per the Tribune. US District Judge Virginia Kendall will ultimately decide whether the city lawsuit—including claims that officers dedicated 1,836 hours of overtime to the case—should proceed to trial or be dropped. A status hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22. (More Jussie Smollett stories.)