Prosecutors called Detective Michael Theis to the stand.
He said more than two dozen officers worked the case, spending 3,000 staff hours on the investigation while combing through 1,500 hours of video footage.
Smollett was surrounded by his family when he walked into his second day in court Tuesday morning.
Jussie Smollett case: Timeline of key moments leading up to trial on disorderly conduct charges
Despite the case against Smollett, his older brother said he believes the facts will find he did nothing wrong.
“We’re confident in his legal team, and we look forward to people hearing the actual facts in this case,” Jojo Smollett said. “It has been incredibly painful as his family to watch someone you love be accused of something they did not do.”
WATCH: Jussie Smollett case ‘has been incredibly painful,’ brother says
Special prosecutor Dan Webb has said Smollett orchestrated a racist and homophobic attack on himself, with the help of two men, back in 2019.
But the defense claims the attack wasn’t fake, that Smollett was hurt in the incident and that the other two men involved criminals.
Smollett’s trial began Monday, nearly three years after the former “Empire” actor reported he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack in Chicago.
Smollett told police he was walking home early in the morning back in January of 2019 when two men recognized him and began hurling racial and homophobic slurs at him.
He said the men struck him, wrapped a noose around his neck and shouted, “This is MAGA country.”
Just weeks later, Smollett was charged with staging the attack to further his career and secure a higher salary. Police said he hired two brothers to pretend to attack him for $3,500.
RELATED: Jussie Smollett news: Chicago police release investigative files, video of alleged staged attack on ‘Empire’ actor
Twelve jurors and three alternates were seated Monday, made up of six men and six women, only one of them Black, along with two female alternates.
The trial is expected to last about a week, and it is not clear if Smollett will take the stand in his own defense.
RELATED: Jussie Smollett update: Special prosecutor finds ‘abuses of discretion’ in Kim Foxx’s handling of ‘Empire’ actor’s case
Smollett faces six counts of disorderly conduct, a class 4 felony which carries a sentence of up to three years in prison, but experts believe if Smollett is convicted he would most likely be placed on probation.
He has pleaded not guilty.
What to expect from Jussie Smollett trial
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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2021-11-30 16:52:30
