Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald appears on “Chicago Tonight” in a file photo. (WTTW News)

During a hearing Tuesday, Fitzgerald’s attorney Dan Webb argued that the case would have to go to trial later this year in order for Fitzgerald to have any chance of getting a job during the next coaching cycle ahead of the 2025 college football season.

Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty at Leighton Criminal Court Building, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Pool / Chicago Tribune)

In a 2-1 decision published Friday, the First District court rejected the actor’s claims that he had faced double jeopardy when a special prosecutor filed renewed charges against him after Cook County prosecutors dropped their initial criminal case.

Former Northwestern University football player Lloyd Yates speaks at a July 19, 2023, news conference. (WTTW News)
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A group of 15 ex-Northwestern athletes represented by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump and Chicago-based colleagues say they plan to file suit against the university in the near future.

Jussie Smollett raises his hand while proclaiming his innocence as he is taken out of the courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to begin his 150-day jail sentence on March 10, 2022. (WTTW News)

The ruling came after a Cook County judge sentenced Smollett last week to immediately begin serving 150 days in jail for his conviction on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police. The appeals court said Smollett could be released on a personal recognizance bond of $150,000, meaning he does not need to post any money to be released.

Jussie Smollett raises his hand while proclaiming his innocence as he is taken out of the courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to begin his 150-day jail sentence on March 10, 2022. (WTTW News)

“I am innocent,” the former “Empire” star yelled as he left the court in custody. “I could have said I was guilty a long time ago.”

Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago, Monday Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo / Matt Marton file)

On Thursday, three months after a jury found him guilty of lying to police, actor Jussie Smollett returns for sentencing to the courtroom where he was found guilty of lying to police about an attack prosecutors contended he orchestrated himself.

Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty at Leighton Criminal Court Building, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Pool / Chicago Tribune)

Though cameras weren’t allowed during Smollett's trial late last year, Cook County Judge James Linn issued an order Friday allowing media organizations to film inside his courtroom during the actor's upcoming March 10 sentencing.

Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty at Leighton Criminal Court Building, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Pool / Chicago Tribune)

Over a Zoom call Thursday, Cook County Judge James Linn said Jussie Smollett, his attorneys and special prosecutors must appear in person for a March 10 hearing to handle sentencing and any post-trial motions from the defense.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx appears on “Chicago Tonight” on March 18, 2020. (WTTW News)

The special prosecutor who secured convictions this month against Jussie Smollett said the way the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office first resolved the former “Empire” star’s criminal charges was a “disgrace” and that Kim Foxx and others lied about how it went down.

Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty at Leighton Criminal Court Building, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Pool / Chicago Tribune)

Finger-pointing, misleading statements, “substantial abuses of discretion” and a “major failure" of operations were among the findings included in a special prosecutor's investigation into Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and her office's handling of the Jussie Smollett case.

Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty at Leighton Criminal Court Building, Thursday, March 14, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Pool / Chicago Tribune)

“The trial of Mr. Smollett being complete, it is now appropriate for the seal on the (Office of Special Prosecutor’s) Summary Report to be lifted and for it to be publicly available,” Dan Webb wrote in a new motion Wednesday.

Actor Jussie Smollett, center, leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse with unidentified siblings, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Chicago, following a verdict in his trial. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)

The jury convicted the 39-year-old on five counts of disorderly conduct — for each separate time he was charged with lying to police in the days after the alleged attack. He was acquitted on a sixth count.

Actor Jussie Smollett arrives at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, day seven of his trial in Chicago. (AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast)

The deliberations began after a roughly one-week trial in which two brothers testified that Jussie Smollett recruited them to fake the attack near his home in downtown Chicago in January 2019.

Jussie Smollett, pictured here, on December 6 in Chicago will resume testifying in his defense Tuesday after taking the stand to rebut allegations that he staged a fake hate crime in 2019 and lied to Chicago police about it. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images)

The trial, which began last week, is the culmination of a case that began on the frigid night of Jan. 29, 2019, when Jussie Smollett told police two men had attacked him, made anti-gay and racist comments, poured bleach on him and put a noose around his neck.

In this courtroom sketch, actor Jussie Smollett takes the stand in his own defense Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on day five of his trial in Chicago. (AP Photo / Cheryl Cook)

Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett denied Monday that he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself in downtown Chicago, testifying at his trial that “there was no hoax.”

Actor Jussie Smollett arrives Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for day two of his trial in Chicago. After two brothers spent hours telling a jury how Smollett paid them to carry out a fake racist and anti-gay attack on himself, the big question when the trial resumes Monday, Dec. 6, is whether the actor will tell his side. (AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

In Smollett’s case, it may be important for him to testify because, as bizarre as the brothers’ testimony was, they are the only witnesses to the incident who have testified. And, said Chicago-based defense attorney, Joe Lopez, Smollett’s attorneys “haven’t been able to impeach these brothers.”