A special prosecutor will examine the decision to dismiss charges against Jussie Smollett

A judge in Chicago has just ordered the appointment of a special prosecutor to examine the Jussie Smollett case.

Judge Michael Toomin concluded on Friday that Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx was not legally permitted to place her top deputy in charge of the investigation into the Empire actor when she stepped back from it, the Chicago Tribune reports, and he ordered the appointment of a special prosecutor to review the case. Toomin said Foxx, who said she was recusing herself from the investigation but did not formally do so, gave her deputy a "fictitious office" without "legal existence," The New York Times reports.

Toomin's decision came after former appellate judge Sheila O'Brien had petitioned for a special prosecutor to examine the decision to drop charges against Smollett, NBC News reports. The special prosector will have the authority to potentially re-open the case or bring new charges.

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Smollett told police in January that he was the victim of a hate crime and that two men attacked him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs, but he later faced charges when police accused him of orchestrating the attack himself. Prosecutors later unexpectedly dropped all of the 16 charges against Smollett.

Smollett has maintained his innocence while Chicago police continue to criticize the decision to drop the charges, with Chicago Police Chief Communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi saying on Friday, "we stand firmly behind the work of detectives in investigating the fabricated incident" and will "fully cooperate with the court appointed special prosecutor."