In December, American actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty by a jury of falsely reporting a hate crime against himself.
He claimed two racist Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats beat him up. It turned out he had paid two Nigerian brothers to stage the whole thing so that he could pretend to be a victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime.
Earlier this month, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in Cook County jail, and 30 months of felony probation, as well as restitution of $120,106 and a $25,000 fine.
Since then, Smollett was ordered to be released from jail after posting a personal recognizance bond of $150,000 by an appeals court pending the appeal against his convictions.
In Australia, a convicted person must ordinarily demonstrate exceptional circumstances in order to get appeal bail. The position appears to be different in America.
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 