CHICAGO (AP) – Jury selection in R. Kelly’s federal trial on charges of tampering with his 2008 state child pornography trial began Monday with the judge and lawyers quickly focusing on whether the prospective jurors watched a 2019 documentary about sexual abuse allegations against R&B. singing
After denying a request by Kelly’s attorney to automatically exclude anyone from the jury who watched the six-part documentary series, “Surviving R. Kelly,” U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber asked potential juries about how much they saw and what they remember. and whether they could be impartial if they were selected.
Jurors were asked whether they had seen the documentary in a questionnaire they had already completed. In one case, a woman who had left her answer blank admitted that she had seen several episodes. However, he was not immediately excused from serving.
In all, the judge dismissed at least half of the 60 or so potential jurors he questioned on Monday. Among those fired were an elementary school teacher who said he would have difficulty being impartial given the subject matter of the trial, a man who said many of his closest friends were Chicago police officers, and a woman who said a once took martial arts lessons with Kelly’s. children
Among those remaining in the pool of potential jurors were a man with a graduate degree in classical music and several people who said they had seen part of the Kelly documentary but assured the judge they could give the singer a fair trial.
Jury selection was scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
The trial centers on whether Kelly threatened and paid off a girl he allegedly videotaped having sex with when he was in his 30s and she was no older than 14. Jurors in the 2008 child pornography trial acquitted Kelly, and some later explained how they felt. they had no choice because the girl did not testify. The woman, now in her 30s and known only as “Minor 1,” will be the government’s star witness in the federal trial that is expected to last four weeks.
Kelly also faces multiple charges of producing and receiving child pornography.
Kelly, 55, has already been sentenced by a New York federal judge to 30 years in prison for a 2021 conviction on charges he used his fame to sexually abuse other young fans.
Wearing a light gray suit, yellow dress shirt, tie and black-rimmed glasses, Kelley gave prospective jurors a look as he was introduced by his attorney Jennifer Bonjean. Kelly also wore a surgical mask as part of the COVID-19 protocols for everyone who entered the court.
Kelly, who rose from poverty on Chicago’s South Side to become a star singer, songwriter and record producer, faces multiple charges in the federal trial. They include four counts of seduction of minors, one for four other accusers. They are also scheduled to testify.
With the New York sentence alone, Kelly will be about 80 years old before qualifying for early release. The Chicago convictions could add decades to Kelly’s New York sentence, which he is appealing. A conviction for a single count of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Two of Kelly’s associates, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, are co-defendants in the Chicago trial. McDavid is accused of helping Kelly fix the 2008 trial, while Brown is accused of receiving child pornography. Like Kelly, they have also denied wrongdoing.
Two state cases are also pending. One is a multiple-count sexual abuse case in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago. The other is a solicitation case in Minnesota. No trial dates are set for either.
Minor 1 is expected to testify that she was on video having sex with Kelly. The recording was at the heart of the month-long 2008 trial and was played for jurors almost every day.
Minor 1 met Kelly in the late 1990s when she was in high school. He had accompanied Kelly to the recording studio in Chicago with his aunt, a professional singer who worked with Kelly. Soon after, Minor 1 told her parents that Kelly was going to be her godfather.
Prosecutors say Kelly later threatened and tried to pay Minor 1 and her parents not to testify in 2008. Neither did.
Double jeopardy rules prohibit someone from being prosecuted for the same crimes for which they were previously acquitted. That doesn’t apply to the federal trial because prosecutors allege different crimes related to Child 1, including obstruction of justice.
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