EXPLAINER: Jussie Smollett's turn to testify. Will he?

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy After two brothers spent hours telling a jury how Jussie Smollett paid them to carry out a fake racist and anti-gay attack on himself in downtown Chicago the big question when the actor's trial resumes Monday will be whether or not he will tell his side of the story. "The jurors might be thinking, ‘Who does this guy think he is, not getting up and telling his story,’" said Terry Ekl, a prominent Chicago-area defense attorney not involved in the case. “The jury believed him.” 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.” Nor have they located a white person that a woman told police she saw carrying a rope in the area earlier that night, leaving the brothers and Smollett as the only three people that the jury can conclude know what happened.