The jury that will decide R. Kelly’s fate in federal court in Chicago was selected Tuesday after more than 12 hours of questioning over two days focused on possible prejudice regarding the onslaught of media coverage in the case.
Opening arguments in the hot-button trial are scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Dirksen US Courthouse.
The jury of 12 regular members and six alternates was sworn in by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, who interviewed more than 100 potential jurors Monday and Tuesday, nearly half of whom he discharged on “cause of cause.”
The composition of the regular jury is: four white women, four black women, two white men and two black men. They include a former lawyer-turned-housewife and a librarian who said she knew about the case from the newspaper headlines she puts on shelves.
Another female juror, a retiree whose two children are lawyers, said during questioning that she had never seen the high-profile documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, but that her brother told her, “If I saw (it). , I would probably be kicked out,” according to the jury.
Many of the panellists said they’d heard of Kelly and the allegations against him before, but let’s be fair. Some even said they saw parts of “Surviving R. Kelly” but didn’t form an opinion about Kelly herself.
One of the black women selected for the jury said she believes she’s seen all 12 episodes of the series but insisted it wouldn’t affect her ability to be fair – a comment echoed by some Kelly supporters who Led to audible giggles from the court gallery watching on Monday.
The final panel was selected after prosecutors and attorneys for Kelly and his two co-defendants used their determined strikes to further reduce the jury pool.
Things got tricky when Kelly’s lead attorney Jennifer Bonjean successfully challenged three of the prosecutors’ strikes against black jurors, claiming they were based solely on race.
She said prosecutors were showing a pattern against black jurors that was “quite disturbing,” although Assistant US Attorney Jeannice Appenteng said they had reasons to remove jurors unrelated to race.
Shortly before 6 p.m., the participants in the discussion were sworn in
“It’s been a long day,” said Leinenweber from the bench after the jury was excused for the night. “Nice evening. I’ll have a martini in a minute.”
Kelly, 55, was charged with child pornography and obstruction of justice in a 2019 indictment that alleges he conspired with others years ago to rig his Cook County trial by paying a teenage girl , whom he sexually assaulted on a now infamous videotape.
Also on trial are Kelly’s former executive Derrel McDavid and another employee, Milton “June” Brown, who the indictment says planned to buy back incriminating sex tapes taken from Kelly’s collection and to hide years of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.
The process should take about four weeks.
A total of 41 potential jurors were interviewed Tuesday. Among those who apologized was a woman who suffered from a dizzy spell when Leinenweber asked her how long she had lived at her current address. Paramedics were called to the building and the woman was released from jury duty.
Throughout the selection process, Leinenweber’s questions to each prospective juror focused on what they may have seen or heard on the news about Kelly and whether they have seen the Lifetime documentaries, which detailed many of the sexual misconduct allegations that are part are the indictment.
Sitting at the defense table, Kelly took an active part in the selection process, donning headphones to listen to sidebar conversations and often whispering with his attorneys.
The singer also visibly responded to the responses of many would-be judges, including one woman, a retired teacher, who made him laugh out loud as she proudly said she filled out the questionnaire “all by herself.”
McDavid’s attorneys, meanwhile, filed a motion late Monday arguing that the charges should be dropped altogether and saying prosecutors waited an “inexcusable and unnecessary” time to bring the charges.
In the decades since the alleged behavior occurred, key witnesses who could support McDavid’s case have died, the record says. And key evidence related to Kelly’s 2008 trial in Cook County Circuit Court was destroyed after the usual seven years had elapsed, McDavid’s attorneys argue.
Federal authorities have known about the central videotape for years and at least one agreement to try to take back another incriminating tape, the filing says.
“(Prosecutors) did nothing despite being fully aware of the allegations and having decades of evidence. As a result, they allowed essential pieces of evidence to be lost over time,” the filing said.
Leinenweber said on Tuesday he would postpone the decision on the application.
The identities of potential jurors are shielded from the public during jury selection, and very little was revealed about them, as Leinenweber asked each person to clarify their answers to a written questionnaire.
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The majority of those released by the judge “for cause” said they would struggle to be fair to Kelly because of what they already knew about the case. Others have claimed that medical problems or other hardships made it difficult to serve for such a long period of time.
Some judges will try to “rehabilitate” them when faced with a would-be juror who questions their neutrality by reminding them of their civic duty to be fair and specifically asking if they can fulfill that duty. But Leinenweber rejected anyone who expressed even the slightest doubt about their impartiality.
The trial is Kelly’s first criminal case to be tried by a grand jury in his hometown since his stunning acquittal in the Cook County case 14 years ago.
Kelly faces a total of 13 counts, including manufacture of child pornography, conspiracy to manufacture child pornography and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Some of the charges have a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars if convicted, while others have prison terms ranging from 5 to 20 years. Prosecutors are also seeking a $1.5 million personal money forfeit from Kelly.
Regardless of the outcome, Kelly still faces decades in prison. In June he was sentenced to 30 years in prison on federal racketeering charges in New York. He is appealing both the jury verdict and the verdict in this case.