Wednesday 16 November 2022 10:44 PM Disgraced singer R Kelly, 55, demands a new trial and acquittal trends now
Disgraced singer R. Kelly, 55, has filed two motions in Chicago's federal court this week seeking a new trial or an outright reversal of his conviction two months ago on child pornography and other sex-abuse related charges.
Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly's attorney, filed the motions on Tuesday with arguments which will likely be heard at an appeal to the 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Last month in Chicago, a federal jury found Kelly guilty on three counts of child pornography, but he was acquitted of a conspiracy to obstruct justice charge accusing him and his team of fixing his state child pornography trial in 2008.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber has set sentencing for Feb. 23.
Bonjean has asked for an acquittal on all counts based on several technical factors.
She said that the prosecution has not been able to prove that the infamous videotape of Kelly abusing his goddaughter who went by the pseudonym 'Jane' was made for the purpose of child pornography.
Kelly's attorney also argued that there had been insufficient evidence that the tape had ever crossed state lines – an element that prosecutors were required to prove during the Chicago trial.
R. Kelly, 55, has filed two motions seeking a new trial or an outright reversal of his conviction on child pornography and other sex-abuse related charges
Flanked by attorneys, Derrel McDavid, center, walks into the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago. McDavid is accused of helping Kelly fix the 2008 trial
Bonjean went on to argue that prosecutors also failed to prove that Kelly had 'coerced' underage victims to engage in sex acts.
The second motion has asked for a new trial based on alleged misstatements by the government's first witness at trial Dr Darrel Turner.
Turner testified during the trial as an expert on how sexual predators 'groom' underage victims and told the jury that he billed prosecutors $250 per hour for his work on this case when the actual figure was $450.
Turner also allegedly underrepresented how many hours he was paid for, telling the jury it was two hours when it was six and a half, Bojean said.
The misstatements were allegedly known to the prosecutors who failed to correct them for the jury, she continued.
'Had the jurors known that Turner actively misled them, the jurors would likely have rejected his testimony outright,' Bonjean said.
Prosecutors are expected to file responses to Bonjean's allegations later this month.
It took Jane more than two decades to come forward about the sexual abuse she suffered and in September a federal jury in Chicago ended the nightmare by determining Kelly was guilty.
Kelly was convicted of pornography charges for making three videotapes of himself abusing Jane beginning in the 1990s.
The charges Kelly was convicted of carry a minimum of 10 years in prison.
The conviction on those counts comes 14 years after Kelly's infamous acquittal on similar charges in Cook County, which were based on a single video of Kelly allegedly abusing Jane in the hot tub room of his former home on West George Street. Jane had refused to cooperate in that case.
Kelly was also found guilty on three out of five counts related to enticement of a minor involving Jane and two other victims who came forward to testify against him.
The jury did however acquit Kelly and two co-defendants on charges to conspire to retrieve incriminating tapes and rig the 2008 trial by pressuring Jane to lie to investigators about their relationship and refuse to testify against him.
Last month in Chicago, a federal jury found Kelly guilty on three counts of child pornography, but he was acquitted of a conspiracy to obstruct justice charge
Jennifer Bonjean (left), Kelly's attorney, filed the motions on Tuesday with arguments which will likely be heard at an appeal to the 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals
The jury of seven women and five men also acquitted Kelly and his two former associates, Derrel McDavid and Milton 'June' Brown, of conspiring to receive the footage that was shown in court.
Jurors apparently determined that while the videos they saw were authentic, they could not say beyond a reasonable doubt that Kelly's team schemed to get them back or even knowingly obtained them.
Kelly was also found not guilty of filming himself with Jane on a video that jurors never saw.
The prosecution said the video was not played in court because Kelly's team successfully buried it but defense attorneys questioned whether the video ever existed.
The long-awaited verdict came after five weeks of trial featuring some 34 witnesses.
The jury deliberated for about 11 hours over two days before the decision was announced in the large ceremonial courtroom at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.
Kelly and McDavid, 61, were acquitted on charges they conspired to obstruct justice in Kelly's 2002 Cook County case. The two men also were acquitted on charges they received child pornography.
All three defendants including Brown, 56, were acquitted on charges of conspiring to receive child pornography.
Kelly, who has been in custody since his July 2019 arrest in Chicago, was led away to the lockup by deputy U.S. marshals. A sentencing date was not immediately set.
The Chicago trial came
