R. Kelly hid the ugly side of his life as he escaped poverty in Chicago and rose to pop music stardom , , prosecutors told jurors Wednesday at the trial of the singer, who was charged with soliciting and manipulating a girl's sex in a 2008 child pornography case.
Kelly's lead attorney told jurors in her opening statement at the federal trial in Chicago that she accused the prosecution of portraying her client as a "monster." I begged him not to accept my remarks.
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Back in the 1990s, many people in the world knew Kelly only from his hit songs. Among them was the moving chart-topping anthemI Believe I Can Fly, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Julian. But "Kelly had another side...a hidden side, a dark side," he added. "This trial is about Kelly's hidden side."
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Kelly, 55, is a minor. collusion The 2008 child pornography trial in which he was acquitted.
Kelly, who denies any wrongdoing, has been hounded for decades by complaints and accusations about his sexual practices. Scrutiny intensified after the #MeToo era and his 2019 six-part documentary Surviving R. Kelly , sexual abuse involving women and his teenage girls allegations were detailed.
Defense attorney Jennifer Bonjeen told the jury that Kelly's intellectual challenges, including illiteracy, forced him to rely on others as his career took off, and that his He said he was sometimes misled by fellow comrades.
"Mr. Kelly could be a victim too," she said.
Chicago's conviction ends his 30-year prison sentence, which he has already received from a New York federal judge on charges of sexually exploiting his fame. Abusing other young fans that could add decades to the sentence.
Kelly, who was sitting in the defense seat, occasionally shook his head while the prosecutor spoke. Julian explained that Kelly was manipulating and controlling the girls. He would even beat them if they didn't follow strict rules, which included calling him "Daddy."
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Julian tries to give the jury a sense of the scale of Kelly's exploits, and Kelly tells 14-, 15-, and 16-year-old girls and said they had "repeated" sex. A number of times.
He told jurors that the evidence included at least three videos showing Kelly having sex with an underage girl.
"I'm not going to let you watch child porn for hours on end," the prosecutor said, explaining that he would see excerpts. He added: But it's important to watch to understand what happened. "
Later on Wednesday, prosecutors said he entered video evidence that was at the center of Kelly's trial in 2008, but had it out for jurors before the day's court ended. Did not play. Prosecutors allege a video in which Kelly had sex with a girl under the age of 14 when he was around the age of 30.
Kelly nodded in agreement when his lawyer told the jury that Kelly was not seeking special treatment, just a fair trial.
"Remember we are talking about humans when the government wants to paint him as a monster," Bonjean said.
She saidalluding to surviving R. Kelly and his years of harsh social media accounts, the jury described as a "mob justice vibe" surrounding Kelly.
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"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. 76} After a jury acquitted Kelly in a 2008 state trial, some described feeling left out because the girl did not testify. The woman, now 37 and referred to as "Minor 1" in court documents, has become a key government witness. During her trial, she goes by the pseudonym "Jane" in court.
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The first to testify was a psychologist, music industry executive, and former Chicago police detective who first obtained Minor 1 videos in the early 2000s. Detectives were scheduled to resume testimony Thursday morning. Played I Believe I Can Fly for 1 minute.
A central focus of the trial is whether Kelly threatened and retaliated against Minor1.
Kelly also faces four charges of sexual attraction to minors. They are also expected to testify.
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Two of Kelly's associates, Derell McDavid and Milton Brown, are co-defendants. McDavid was accused of helping Kelly fix a 2008 trial, and Brown was charged with receiving child pornography.Like Kelly, they also deny any wrongdoing.
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The jury was impeached Tuesday night Prosecutors and defense attorneys debated toward the end of the process whether the government was unfairly trying to keep some black people off the jury. Kelly is black.
About half of his 12 jurors who were impeached were identified as black by judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys. There are also 5 alternates.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
