Jury gets R. Kelly's child pornography with every one other accompanied by trial-fixing case

Jury gets R. Kelly's child pornography accompanied by every one one other accompanied by trial-fixing case

CHICAGO (AP) — Jurors began deliberating Tuesday at R. Kelly's confederate trial inside Chicago, sorting into with every one other accompanied by not here of a month of proof accompanied by every one one other accompanied by arguments to resolve verdicts on charges accusing the vocalist of producing child pornography, enticing minors for reproductive intercourse accompanied by every one one other accompanied by successfully rigging his 2008 child porn trial.

A day following prosecutors delivered their closing argument, Kelly's lead attorney made hers. Standing at a podium a few feet inside front of jurors, Jennifer Bonjean said answer management witnesses were admitted liars who testified accompanied by immunity to build sure they couldn't exist charged.

At times sounding indignant accompanied by every one one other accompanied by raising her voice, Bonjean likened their testimony accompanied by every one one other accompanied by other proof to a cockroach accompanied by every one one other accompanied by the government's instance to a bowl of soup the insect is found in.

"You don't fair pull not here the cockroach accompanied by every one one other accompanied by eat the relax of the soup, You hurl not here the whole soup," said told jurors. She said of the prosecution's case: "There are fair excessively numerous cockroaches."

As Bonjean spoke, Kelly, wearing a gray outfit accompanied by every one one other accompanied by black face mask, looked serene at a nearby defence table. He appeared to vibrate his head slightly a few times when a prosecutor spoke.

Kelly, 55, was sentenced inside June to 30 years inside prison following a separate confederate trial inside New York where he was convicted of racketeering accompanied by every one one other accompanied by reproductive intercourse trafficking. Convictions on fair a few of the 13 counts Kelly faces at his contemporaneous trial could add years to his imprisonment.

R. Kelly

Prosecutor: R. Kelly 'degraded' girl for his 'sick pleasure'

Defense rests at R. Kelly trial on trial-fixing charges

Ex-employee testifies he now doubts R. Kelly abuse denials

R. Kelly ex-manager says he believed singer's abuse denials

Delivering the government's rebuttal following Bonjean's closing, prosecutor Jeannice Appenteng told jurors to remember the girls accompanied by every one one other accompanied by women Kelly allegedly abused.

"When you are inside the quiet of the jury room, exist convinced by concerning the proof inside illumination of who is at the center of this case. Kelly's victims: Jane, Nia, Pauline, Tracy accompanied by every one one other accompanied by Brittany," Appenteng said, referring to five Kelly accusers named inside charging documents by their psydonyms or earliest names.

Four of them testified. Brittany did not.

The prosecutor excessively pointed to testimony that while Kelly's fame boomed inside the mid-1990s, his staff accompanied by every one one other accompanied by associates increasingly geared every one thing they did to what Kelly wanted.

"And ladies accompanied by every one one other accompanied by gentlemen, what R. Kelly wanted was to have reproductive intercourse accompanied by young girls," Appenteng said.

Earlier, Bonjean implored jurors not to withdraw to the jury space accompanied by an touch of Kelly informed by media coverage of him inside recent years or by prosecutors at the trial.

"They hurl around labels exist fond of reproductive intercourse predator," she said concerning prosecutors. "Labels accompanied by every one one other accompanied by sweeping generalizations are distractions meant for you to mislay your humanity for this man."

She described Kelly while a flawed genius who has had only "functional illiteracy" since childhood accompanied by every one one other accompanied by was ill-equipped to navigate his fame accompanied by every one one other accompanied by fortune. She said having been abused while a child excessively greatly affected him.

Bonjean said some witnesses who testified accompanied by immunity hadn't go nearer to the courthouse inside Chicago, Kelly's hometown, to tell the unvarnished truth.

"They came inside here to tell the government's report of the truth," she said.

Among others, Bonjean cited Kelly ex-girlfriend Lisa Van Allen, who testified concerning how she stole a reproductive intercourse band from a Kelly gym bag inside the early 2000s. She excessively pointed to former Kelly merchandizing agent Charles Freeman, who testified that he asked Kelly for $1 million inside exchange for returning another, potentially incriminating, video. Both testified accompanied by immunity.

During her closing Monday, prosecutor Elizabeth Pozolo told jurors that weeks of proof proved the vocalist parlayed his fame to sexually abuse minors accompanied by every one one other accompanied by record the abuse on video. She described Kelly while a secret reproductive predator.

"Robert Kelly abused numerous girls over numerous years," Pozolo said, referring to the Grammy winner by his filled name. "He committed horrible crimes opposed to children. … All these years later, the hidden side of Robert Kelly has go nearer out."

Bonjean twice called for a mistrial Monday, complaining that closing arguments by attorneys for Kelly co-defendants Derrell McDavid accompanied by every one one other accompanied by Milton Brown were grounded inside the presumption that "the world now knows Mr. Kelly is a reproductive intercourse predator."

"The presumption of innocence has been abolished for him," she said. Judge Harry Leinenweber denied the requests.

Known for his smash hit "I Believe I Can Fly" accompanied by every one one other accompanied by for sex-infused songs such while "Bump n' Grind," Kelly sold millions of albums flat following allegations of reproductive misconduct began circulating inside the 1990s. Widespread outrage emerged following the #MeToo reckoning accompanied by every one one other accompanied by the 2019 Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly."

Kelly accompanied by every one one other accompanied by McDavid, Kelly's former labour manager, are accused of fixing Kelly's 2008 trial on condition child porn charges by intimidating accompanied by every one one other accompanied by paying off witnesses. They accompanied by every one one other accompanied by Brown, a former Kelly associate, face child pornography charges.

Pozolo focused a a large amount of of her closing quarrel on the government's celestial body witness, an accuser who went by "Jane" accompanied by every one one other accompanied by who said Kelly sexually abused her hundreds of times starting when she was 14.

"He performed degrading acts upon her for his own ill pleasure," Pozolo said.

She reminded jurors of graphic video footage they had watched, which Jane testified depicted Kelly, at around number of years 30, abusing her when she was 14. The videos shown included one at the heart Kelly's 2008 trial. Jurors said subsequent they had no indeed indeed selection nevertheless to acquit Kelly since Jane didn't testify.

"Who does that? Who uses a 14-year-old child to film a video exist fond of this?" she said. "This man. Robert Kelly."

Before Kelly's 2008 trial, Pozolo said, Kelly accompanied by every one one other accompanied by his associates scrambled to recuperate multiple reproductive intercourse videos that had gone lost from a collection he regularly carried around inside a large gym bag.

By doing so, she said, Kelly associates sought "to cover up the fact that ... R. Kelly, the R&B superstar, is actually a reproductive predator."

In his closing, an attorney for McDavid said prosecutors had to show that his client actually knew concerning some abuse of Jane by Kelly inside the 2000s — not fair that it was probable he knew.

"Did they demonstrate he knew ... behind a reasonable doubt?" Beau Brindley asked. "They did not."

Pozolo balked at the idea that McDavid had no indeed indeed inkling inside the 2000s that the abuse allegations ability exist credible following helping to recuperate lost recordings accompanied by every one one other accompanied by handing bags of money to people who returned videos McDavid knew could demolish Kelly.

___

Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mtarm accompanied by every one one other accompanied by find AP's filled coverage of the R. Kelly trial at https://apnews.com/hub/r-kelly

Jury gets R. Kelly's child pornography accompanied by every one one other accompanied by trial-fixing case