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No Cameras Will Be Allowed In Courtroom For Jussie Smollett's Trial

CHICAGO (CBS) -- When actor Jussie Smollett goes on trial on disorderly conduct charges next month, cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom.

A Cook County judge denied a request for extended media coverage of the trial on Friday, and also rejected a motion by Smollett's attorney to dismiss the case.

Smollett faces six counts of disorderly conduct, accused of filing false police reports that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault on the way home from Subway in the middle of the night in Streeterville in January 2019.

In March 2019, Cook County prosecutors dropped the original case against Smollett, dismissing 16 counts of disorderly conduct against him, without requiring he admit any wrongdoing, in a controversial move just weeks after he'd pleaded not guilty.

A special prosecutor later was assigned to look into the entire case, after a judge found "unprecedented irregularities" in how Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx handled the case, specifically by handing it over to her second-in-command after announcing she had recused herself.

Last year, following an investigation by special prosecutor Dan Webb, a special Cook County grand jury returned a six-count indictment accusing Smollett of lying to Chicago Police.

Attorneys for the actor said Smollett's rights were violated when he was indicted the second time, because he performed community service after the original charges were filed, and gave up his $10,000 bond in a deal with Cook County prosecutors to drop charges.

But on Friday Judge James Linn said when Judge Michael Toomin appointed Webb as a special prosecutor to investigate the entire case in August 2019, he ruled the original case against Smollett was void, after determining Foxx improperly recused herself and appointed a top deputy to prosecute the case.

With Smollett's latest bid to dismiss the case denied, jury selection for his trial is slated to begin Nov. 29.

Smollett has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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