Jussie Smollett, the first Empire Actor convicted in 2021 of committing a hate crime against himself in 2019 has had that conviction overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court. The court ruled that since Smollett had entered into an agreement when similar charges were filed in 2019, prosecutors had violated due process by retrying him two years later.

The case began in January 2019, when Smollett reported to Chicago police that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack. Two suspects were released after telling police that Smollett had paid them to stage the attack, leading to a 16-count grand jury indictment against Smollett.

Prosecutors dropped the case when Smollett agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond and perform community service, but the case was revived in 2021 amid public outcry. The second time, he was convicted on six counts and sentenced to 150 days in prison. He was released again six days later so he could take the case to the Illinois Appeals Court. That court upheld the conviction before escalating the case to the Illinois Supreme Court, where Judge Elizabeth M. Rochford reversed the conviction. Smollett pleaded not guilty to the charges in both cases.

Nenye Uche, an attorney for Smollett, said in a statement The New York Times“We are grateful to the Illinois Supreme Court for restoring order to Illinois criminal jurisprudence.”