


CHICAGO — After two weeks of testimony, federal prosecutors on Tuesday rested their case within the youngster pornography trial of disgraced R&B famous person R. Kelly and two of his former workers.
Since jurors had been empaneled, prosecutors have sought to show that Kelly, 55, repeatedly engaged in — and sometimes recorded — sexual exercise with minor women.
A number of the trial’s most placing moments got here final week when prosecutors known as their star witness — recognized in court docket solely as “Jane” — to testify. Jane — and later her mom — advised jurors that she was the teenager woman seen within the tape that was on the heart of Kelly’s 2008 youngster pornography trial in Prepare dinner County.
Now 37, Jane testified that she and Kelly engaged in sexual actions “a whole lot” of occasions whereas she was a minor, together with a number of threesomes that Kelly recorded.
Her testimony marked the primary time that Jane publicly addressed her relationship with Kelly, which, she mentioned, lasted till 2014 when she moved out of Kelly’s former house in south suburban Olympia Fields after the singer turned abusive.
After Jane and her mom testified, prosecutors performed for jurors 17 video clips from three movies that allegedly confirmed Kelly and Jane participating in intercourse acts.
Court docket employees took intensive measures to make sure that the video clips had been seen by nobody aside from jurors, the varied attorneys within the case and Decide Harry Leinenweber. The jurors — and their video displays — had been shielded from view by massive, black curtains. Audio from the movies, nonetheless, was nonetheless performed all through the courtroom, and Leinenweber denied a request from prosecutors to clear the courtroom because the clips had been performed.
Different witnesses for the federal government advised jurors how Kelly’s co-defendants — his former enterprise supervisor Derrel McDavid and his former assistant Milton “June” Brown — conspired with others to trace down and get well copies of tapes that allegedly confirmed Kelly participating in intercourse acts with minors. These witnesses mentioned McDavid and Brown paid out 1000’s of {dollars} on Kelly’s behalf to see the tapes returned.
On Tuesday, Leinenweber opted to offer jurors the break day on Wednesday earlier than the three protection groups current their circumstances to the jury on Thursday. The decide additionally gave jurors the break day on Friday. Protection attorneys predicted their circumstances could be full by the center of subsequent week.
To date, attorneys for Kelly and his co-defendants have pressed authorities witnesses on alleged inconsistencies between their trial testimony and former sworn statements they made to legislation enforcement. Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s lead protection legal professional, has sought to point out jurors that a number of complaining witnesses within the case had been really of authorized age to consent once they engaged in intercourse acts with Kelly.
A federal grand jury in Chicago indicted Kelly on 13 counts in July 2019, accusing him of manufacturing and receiving youngster pornography, whereas additionally attractive minors to have interaction in unlawful sexual exercise. Earlier this yr, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in jail by a federal decide in Brooklyn after he was discovered responsible of racketeering.
McDavid and Brown are charged with one depend of conspiracy to obtain youngster pornography. McDavid additionally faces two counts of receiving youngster pornography and one depend of conspiracy to impede justice associated to Kelly’s 2008 youngster pornography trial in Prepare dinner County.
Prosecutors allege Kelly and people in his inside circle paid out a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} over time in an effort to trace down video tapes that Kelly made that allegedly present him participating in sexual exercise with underage victims.