A federal trial on allegations that R. Kelly rigged a 2008 state child pornography trial to incite underage girls into sexual acts has been filed against R&B Singer. The "hidden side" of the prosecutor told jurors on Wednesday. I Believe I Can FlyIt was "Kelly's public side," he said. "This ordeal is about Kelly's hidden side."
"When the government wants to portray him as a monster... Remember we talk about humans?" said Jennifer Bonjeen, Kelly's lead attorney.
Bonjean also produced a six-part documentary Surviving R. Kelly, and years of harsh comments about him on social media.
"It is true that Mr. Kelly is imperfect," she said. "On the road from poverty to stardom, he stumbled along the way." But she said she was confident a jury would eventually find him not guilty. 17}
Kelly was charged in federal court in his native Chicago, with soliciting a minor for sex, producing child pornography, and rigging a 2008 child pornography trial. acquitted.
Some jurors saw at least part of documentaries
aged 14, 15, 16 — "Multiple girls, hundreds of times
Both the prosecution and Kelly's legal team asked the judges earlier in the week to tell jurors about the types of evidence they could expect to see and hear, respectively. He said he wanted about an hour.The evidence phase of the federal trial is expected to last about a month.
View | R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison: Disgraced R&B Star R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Several of his victims described the abuse at hearings and the lasting effect it had on their lives.
Kelly's attorneys for his two co-defendants will also address jurors before the government begins calling witnesses later Wednesday. Prosecutors have not disclosed who they will call first.
A jury was selected on Tuesday night, and prosecutors and defense counsel debated towards the end of the process whether the government was trying to keep some black people off the jury. Kelly is black.
Selected he was identified as black by judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, about half of the 12 jurors.
Some of the jurors selected had seen at least part of the six-part documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, and were nominated for a Grammy Award. It was about allegations of sexual abuse against the award-winning singer.
Viewing it will not automatically disqualify a prospective juror, as long as he or she can assure them that they can remain impartial to Federal District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber. was.
His 2008 litigation actions at the center of the new trial
One of his central focal points in the trial was that Kelly videotaped himself sexually. Whether or not the alleged girl was threatened and retaliated against. She was 30 years old and she was 14 years younger than she was. It's an allegation that supports her one more charge against Kelly. It's an obstruction of justice conspiracy.
A jury in a 2008 child pornography trial acquitted Kelly. Some jurors then explained that they felt they had no choice because the girl did not testify. , becoming a star witness for the government.[98] Prosecutors say they call her by the pseudonym "Jane" in court.
Kelly, 55, used his fame to sexually abuse a young fan of hers. } has already been handed down by a New York federal judge.
Kelly, who fled poverty on his side of South Chicago to become a star-his singer, songwriter, and producer, before being eligible for early release under a sentence imposed in New York. I will be about 80 years old.
Kelly faces his four counts of underage sexual temptation. They, too, are expected to testify at the Chicago trial.
Two of Kelly's associates, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, are co-defendants in the Chicago trial. McDavid was accused of helping Kelly fix a 2008 trial, and Brown was charged with receiving child pornography.
Recordings of Kelly's alleged sexual assault on Minor 1 were central to his month-long trial in 2008 and played nearly daily for jurors. it was done. She was expected to testify about it at this trial.
According to prosecutors, Kelly threatened her minor1 her and her parents not to testify in her 2008 and demanded her payment.