*As the R. Kelly sex-trafficking trial is winding down and jury deliberations are set to begin shortly, his defense attorney compared him to MLK JR! Let that sink in for a moment. In the meantime, a prosecutor suggested to jurors that they should convict the entertainer.
The prosecutor reminded the court room that that Kelly used his celebrity as leverage to sexually abuse women, girls and boys for more than two decades.
“It is now time to hold the defendant responsible for the pain he inflicted on each of his victims,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes said in concluding her closing arguments in federal court in Brooklyn. “It is now time for the defendant, Robert Kelly, to pay for his crimes. Convict him.”
Geddes made that comment in the wake of an exhaustive recitation of evidence the government says proves Kelly, with the help of some loyal members of his entourage, lured in underage victims before subjecting them to tactics from “the predator playbook,” according to Fox News.
The tactics included isolating them in hotel rooms or his studio, subjecting them to degrading rules and punishments, and making video recordings of them having sex with him and others as a means to control them, prosecutors said.
As an example, Geddes described one graphic video that shows Kelly, 54, forcing one of his victims to give another man oral sex. The woman submitted “because her will had been broken,” the prosecutor said.
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Also on Thursday, the defense started its closing arguments with doozy. Would you believe they invoked MLK Jr.’s name into this mess? Kelly’s legal rep straight up says the singer should be let go because he’s just like Martin Luther King Jr.
Whoah. Let that swirl around in your brain for a minute.
Attorney Deveraux Cannick told the jury Kelly is demanding prosecutors prove he’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt … the same way Dr. King fought for Constitutional rights, TMZ reported.
To make Cannick’s point (in his mind, we suppose) he quoted a part of MLK’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, declaring … “Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press.”
His point – we guess – is that Dr. King wanted the government to uphold the Constitution, and Kelly’s doing the same … in his sex crimes trial.
As we said up top, the jury will soon begin deliberations (as early as tomorrow, Friday). Kelly – who’s also charged with multiple violations of the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport anyone across state lines “for any immoral purpose” – faces 10 years to life if he’s convicted.
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