{"id":48297,"date":"2022-08-17T19:04:39","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T19:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/opening-statements-begin-in-second-r-kelly-federal-trial\/"},"modified":"2022-08-17T19:04:39","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T19:04:39","slug":"opening-statements-begin-in-second-r-kelly-federal-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/opening-statements-begin-in-second-r-kelly-federal-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening statements begin in second R. Kelly federal trial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Opening statements in the case against disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly began Wednesday with prosecutors outlining their accusations in the plainest possible language.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant, Robert Kelly, had sex with multiple children,\u201d Assistant US Atty. Jason Julien told the jury. \u201cHe made videotapes of himself having sex with children. And these two (co-)defendants, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown, knew about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his heyday, Kelly was a high-flying Grammy-winning legend, Julien said. But he \u201chad another side, a hidden side, a dark side, that he \u2014 with the help of McDavid and Brown \u2014 did not allow the world to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julien featured Kelly as a serial predator who had sex with minors hundreds of times, and went to \u201cextraordinary lengths\u201d to cover that up when authorities began to investigate.<\/p>\n

Julien said the sex included relations with Kelly’s own goddaughter, \u201cJane,\u201d including many encounters he videotaped. Jurors are expected to see parts of three videotapes depicting Kelly having sexual contact with Jane; in two of them, Kelly repeatedly refers to her \u201c14-year-old\u201d anatomy, Julien said.<\/p>\n

Another videotape allegedly depicting child pornography will not be shown to jurors because Kelly and the defendants successfully covered it up, according to prosecutors. But watchers will testify about its existence, Julien said.<\/p>\n

When authorities started investigating one of the tapes in the early 2000\u2032s, Kelly sent \u201cJane\u201d and her family on a month-long trip out of the country, and when they got back they lied to authorities about the tape at Kelly’s behest. <\/b>Over the next few years they got drawn deeper into Kelly’s web, prosecutors said, at one point becoming largely financially dependent upon him.<\/p>\n

As Kelly was awaiting trial in Cook County he and the co-defendants made wide-ranging efforts to locate and cover up other tapes of him with \u201cJane,\u201d prosecutors said, including one payoff that happened during the 2008 trial, they said.<\/p>\n

Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean, in turn, urged jurors to consider whether Kelly might be a victim himself: \u201cOf financial exploitation, extortion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are strong motivators out there,\u201d she said. \u201cThe government’s case really does hinge on the testimony of liars, extortionists, people who engaged in the business of trafficking pornography.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonjean acknowledged that many of the jurors said they were familiar with Kelly and some of the familiar against him.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Prosecutors) believe their evidence is going to show that he is a serial child sexual abuser. That’s what they believe,\u201d Bonjean said. \u201cAnd it is true that Mr. Kelly is imperfect. It is true that on his journey from poverty to stardom that he stumbled along the way. It is important when the government wants to paint him as a monster that you remember we are talking about a human being. We implore you to keep those emotions in check.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the counts against Kelly involve videotaped evidence, which could be difficult to refute. Other counts will largely rely instead on witness testimony.<\/p>\n

Bonjean pointedly reminded jurors to consider each criminal charge against Kelly separately.<\/p>\n

Kelly sat hunched at the defense table throughout opening statements, dressed in a dark blue suit and light blue tie. For the most part he appeared to be fixing his gaze straight ahead, even when Bonjean reintroduced him to the jury, which is seated to his left in the courtroom.<\/p>\n

At times during prosecutors’ opening remarks, he shook his head slightly. And when Bonjean told jurors he was not expecting any special treatment, he replied.<\/p>\n

In opening statements on behalf of McDavid, attorney Vadim Glozman said that the former business manager only ever acted at the behest of Kelly’s accomplished attorneys and investigators, none of whom would have risked their careers to cover up child pornography.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing your job as a lawyer and doing your job as a business manager to a superstar is not a crime. Being successful in your efforts is not a crime,\u201d Glozman said.<\/p>\n

And back in the early 2000s, McDavid had every reason to believe the tape at the center of the Cook County case was illegitimate, Glozman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he believed that, there was never any intention to obstruct justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McDavid will take the stand and testify on his own behalf, Glozman said.<\/p>\n

Opening statements began after two full days of jury selection. The 12 jurors and six alternates were sworn in late Tuesday. They are expected to hear evidence and arguments over roughly the next four weeks.<\/p>\n

US District Judge Harry Leinenweber took the bench around 10 am with a rather ominous proclamation: \u201cThings are never intended to be easy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One juror called to say she had developed a medical problem and wanted to be dismissed. Leinenweber excused her and replaced her with an alternate. Proceedings were further delayed since two other judges were stuck on a late Metra train.<\/p>\n

Leinenweber, who questioned more than 100 potential jurors on Monday and Tuesday, dismissed nearly half for \u201ccause,\u201d generally because they indicated they wouldn’t be fair or because jury duty would present a significant hardship.<\/p>\n

Many of those on the panel said they’d heard of Kelly and the accusations against him before, but could remain fair. Some even said they’d seen parts of \u201cSurviving R. Kelly\u201d but had formed no opinion about Kelly himself.<\/p>\n

The final panel was selected after both prosecutors and attorneys for Kelly and his two-co-defendants used their peremptory strikes to further pare down the jury pool.<\/p>\n

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Things got testy Tuesday when Kelly’s lead attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, successfully challenged three of the prosecution’s strikes of Black jurors, alleging they were based solely on race.<\/p>\n

She said prosecutors were displaying a pattern against Black jurors that was \u201cquite disturbing,\u201d though the Assistant US Attorney Jeannice Appenteng said they had reasons to remove the jurors unrelated to race.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, nearly every single peremptory strike by the defense involving the regular jury makeup was of a white person \u2014 12 in all. The defense also moved to strike one Asian woman and one Black woman. Prosecutors, however, did not raise any challenges based on that racial breakdown.<\/p>\n

Kelly, 55, was charged with child pornography and obstruction of justice in a 2019 indictment alleging he conspired with others to rig his Cook County trial years ago by paying off a teenage girl whom he sexually assaulted on a now-infamous videotape.<\/p>\n

Also facing trial are Kelly’s former business manager, Derrel McDavid, and another associate, Milton \u201cJune\u201d Brown, who, according to the indictment, schemed to buy back incriminating sex tapes that had been taken from Kelly’s collection and hide years of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.<\/p>\n

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com<\/i><\/p>\n

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opening statements in the case against disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly began Wednesday with prosecutors outlining their accusations in the plainest possible language. \u201cThe defendant, Robert Kelly, had sex with multiple children,\u201d Assistant US Atty. Jason Julien told the jury. \u201cHe made videotapes of himself having sex with children. And these two (co-)defendants, Derrel McDavid …<\/p>\n

Opening statements begin in second R. Kelly federal trial<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48477,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/r-kelly-trial-girl-in-child-pornography-tapes-expected-to-testify-against-singer-associates\/","url_meta":{"origin":48297,"position":0},"title":"R. Kelly trial: Girl in child pornography tapes expected to testify against singer, associates","date":"August 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The tapes showing the alleged encounters were part of a 2008 Illinois child pornography trial in which Kelly was acquitted after the witness declined to take the stand. Now nearly 40 years old, she is finally expected to testify, using the pseudonym \"Jane,\" said Assistant US Attorney Jason Julien during\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57534,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kansas-city-man-tests-about-returning-copy-of-purported-r-kelly-sex-tape-to-singers-associates\/","url_meta":{"origin":48297,"position":1},"title":"Kansas City man tests about returning copy of purported R. Kelly sex tape to singer’s associates","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kansas City man at the center of an alleged scheme to hide a sex tape showing R. Kelly in a threesome with a 14-year-old girl told a federal jury Friday that he only handed over a partial copy of the tape to Kelly's associates at first because he \u201cdidn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54472,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/jurors-to-continue-to-hear-testimony\/","url_meta":{"origin":48297,"position":2},"title":"Jurors to continue to hear testimony","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Jurors in R. Kelly's federal child pornography trial on Tuesday heard a tale seemingly ripped from a B-movie script: Clandestine hotel meetings. sex tapes Bags filled with cash. Tough guys with guns.But this was no movie, according to Charles Freeman, a key prosecution witness who was at the center of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49419,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/woman-describes-frequent-abuse-by-r-kelly-before-she-was-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":48297,"position":3},"title":"Woman describes frequent abuse by R Kelly before she was 18","date":"August 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 A woman who has been central to R. Kelly's legal troubles for more than two decades testified Thursday that the R&B singer sexually abused her \u201chundreds\u201d of times before she turned 18 years old, starting when she was 15.Jane \u2014 the pseudonym for the now 37-year-old woman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49822,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/r-kelly-trial-20-years-ago-she-said-she-wasnt-the-girl-in-a-sex-tape-with-the-singer-now-shes-telling-a-different-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":48297,"position":4},"title":"R. Kelly trial: 20 years ago, she said she wasn’t the girl in a sex tape with the singer. Now, she’s telling a different story","date":"August 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Testifying under the pseudonym Jane, the 37-year-old only looked at Kelly once during her testimony when asked to identify him. Kelly kept his gaze lowered to the defense table throughout every time on the stand. Prosecutors showed multiple recordings which Jane tested showed Kelly engaging in sex acts with her.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49508,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/woman-in-original-r-kelly-tape-testifies-to-underage-sex-hundreds-of-times-with-singer-rolling-stone\/","url_meta":{"origin":48297,"position":5},"title":"Woman in Original R. Kelly Tape Testifies to Underage Sex ‘Hundreds’ of Times With Singer \u2013 Rolling Stone","date":"August 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"R. Kelly's former goddaughter tested that she had sex with the disgraced singer for the first time when she was 15, and that they had sex \u201chundreds\u201d of times, sometimes with other underage girls. The goddaughter, now 37 and testing at Kelly's federal trial in Chicago Thursday Aug. 18 under\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/resizer\/RHyIBtsqCGq-MEVmbcL8IUx25G0=\/1200x630\/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/tronc\/M7ZWSO7LKVF5HKMZEMJOSDGJDU.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}