CHICAGO — The jury began deliberating the fate of former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett on Wednesday.

Smollett is accused of staging a racist, anti-gay attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019.

The jury began deliberating after the prosecution and defense delivered their closing arguments.

Prosecutor Dan Webb told jurors there's "overwhelming" evidence Smollett lied about the January 2019 attack.

Smollett's attorney contends the attack was real. NBC News reports that Attorney Nenye Uche pinned the blame on two brothers who testified that they were hired by Smollett to carry out the attack. She called them “sophisticated liars.”

During more than eight hours of testimony on Monday and Tuesday, Smollett has repeatedly denied the attack was a fake, telling a prosecutor "there was no hoax on my part" and that two brothers who testified against him are "liars."

The jury will have to decide whether Smollett is guilty on six counts of a low-level felony for lying to Chicago police.

CHICAGO —

The twists, turns and oddities of the legal saga surrounding Jussie Smollett's claim in 2019 that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago have culminated in an actual trial, which enters its first full day of testimony Tuesday.

Initial charges brought in February 2019 that accused the former "Empire" actor of faking the assault were soon after tossed. But in February 2020, after a special prosecutor looked into the case, a new six-count indictment was filed.

Here's a look at the charges Cook County jurors will hear testimony about:

What are the charges?

The 39-year-old is charged under Illinois' disorderly conduct statute, which encompasses a wide range of offenses, from making prank 911 calls to placing harassing calls as a debt collector.

He faces six counts of disorderly conduct under a subsection of the law that prohibits false reports to police. Some states don't categorize false police reports as disorderly conduct.

The charges are listed as class 4 felonies, which are among the least serious felonies in Illinois. But convictions can still carry potential prison time of up to three years.

If jurors convict Smollett, his lack of criminal history and the fact that no one was seriously hurt make actual time behind bars unlikely. It's more likely that a judge would sentence him to probation and perhaps order him to perform community service.

"I'd be shocked if he spent one day in jail," said Andrew Weisberg, a Chicago-based criminal attorney and a former Cook County prosecutor.

How unique is it for such charges to be brought?

The Smollett case is certainly unique in how it involves a star actor and in its sensational claims and counterclaims — first by Smollett, who is Black and gay, that he was the subject of an attack and then by police that he had made it all up.

While it is among the biggest disorderly conduct cases in Illinois history, it's not the only such case to have made a splash in the news.

A Canadian, Robert Spearing, was charged with disorderly conduct in 2011 after Chicago police said he lied about being beaten and robbed of tickets to an Oprah Winfrey show. He concocted the story, even cutting his own forehead with a rock, to conceal from his wife that he'd never had tickets. He pleaded guilty and did no time in prison.

Disorderly conduct charges for filing a false police report aren't uncommon and are sometimes tied to insurance fraud. Last week, a man in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police that he had been robbed in a parking garage at gunpoint.

Weisberg says those who fib in initial reports to police are frequently quick to recant and often aren't charged if they take it back immediately. After police accused him of lying, Smollett doubled down and insisted it was all true.

Smollett's case stands out in that it got to trial at all, Weisberg added. In many cases, those accused of lying to police seek a plea deal or plead guilty without a deal.

Why six counts against Smollett for the same incident?

Each count of disorderly conduct represents an instance during Jan. 29, 2019, and then on Feb. 14, 2019, in which Smollett allegedly lied to police.

Count 1 accuses him of telling responding Chicago police Officer Muhammed Baig at around 2:45 a.m. — some 45 minutes after the purported attack — that he'd been the victim of a hate crime. He said two attackers put a rope around his neck. Count 2 refers to Smollett telling the same officer he was a victim of a battery, describing attackers beating and pouring bleach on him.

Counts 3 and 4 are when Smollett made the same claims but to a different officer, Kimberly Murray, later that morning — at just before 6 a.m.

Count 5 accuses Smollett of again telling Murray at around 7:15 p.m. that he was the victim of a battery. Count 6 refers to Smollett reporting on Feb. 14, 2019, to detective Robert Graves that he'd been a victim of an aggravated battery.

All three officers are expected to testify.

CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett is going on trial this week, accused of lying to police when he reported he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack in downtown Chicago nearly three years ago.

Jury selection for the trial got underway on Monday.

The gay Black actor known for his role on “Empire” told police in January 2019 that two masked men attacked him.

He was charged weeks later with filing a false police report after investigators concluded he had staged the attack.

That case was dropped but later revived when a special prosecutor charged Smollett with disorderly conduct. The actor has pleaded not guilty.

The trial will boil down to the question of whether the jury believes the actor's version of what he says was a racist and homophobic attack, or jurors may believe the two brothers who say they helped the actor fake the incident.

Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo admit they took part in the “attack” that made headlines around the world but say Smollett planned the whole thing and paid them to do it.

In a way, the brothers will be on trial as much as Smollett, with pretty much the whole prosecution case hinging on whether jurors believe them, The Associated Press reports.

The trial is expected to last a week.

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge in Chicago has denied a last-ditch effort to dismiss a criminal case against actor Jussie Smollett.

Smollett is accused of lying to police when he reported that two masked men attacked him in downtown Chicago in January 2019.

Smollett's lawyer argued that his rights were being violated since he had already performed community service and given up a $10,000 bond in a deal with Cook County prosecutors to drop charges.

But Judge James Linn noted that Smollett's case now is being handled by a special prosecutor.

Linn says he won't interfere.

The trial is set for Nov. 29.

Two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, admitted in June 2020 that they helped the former "Empire" actor stage a racist and homophobic attack against him.

Charges against Smollett were dropped in March 2019 by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

But new charges were filed by special prosecutor Dan Webb in February 2020.