*Today is the day that jury selection begins for R. Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago. The singer faces charges that he rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial by threatening and paying off a girl who he allegedly filmed himself having sex with when he was around 30 and she was no older than 14.
It was back in 2008 that jurors acquitted Kelly on all charges in that trial, some explaining later that they felt they had no choice because the girl did not testify. Apparently, things have changed because the woman, now in her 30s and referred to in filings only as “Minor 1,” will be the government’s star witness in the upcoming federal trial.
Kelly, a Chicago native, goes into federal court in his hometown after being recently sentenced by a New York federal judge to a 30-year prison term for a 2021 conviction on charges he used his fame to sexually abuse other young fans.
Kelly faces multiple charges at the federal trial. They include four counts of enticement of minors for sex — one each for four other accusers. They, too, are slated to testify.
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Convictions in Chicago could add decades to Kelly’s New York sentence, which he is appealing. With the New York sentence alone, Kelly, now 55, will be around 80 before qualifying for early release.
Kelly is not being tried alone in the case. Twoof his associates, Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown are co-defendants. McDavid is accused of helping Kelly fix the 2008 trial, while Brown is charged with receiving child pornography. Like Kelly, they have also denied any wrongdoing.
Unfortunately, that’s not all that’s in store for the disgraced singer/producer. Two state cases are also still pending. One is a multiple-count sex abuse case out of Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago. The other is a solicitation case in Minnesota. No trial dates are set for either, according to Fox 32.
Here’s the bad news for R. Kelly: Minor 1 is expected to testify that she was on video having sex with Kelly. The recording was at the heart of the monthlong 2008 trial and was played for jurors almost every day.
Minor 1 first met Kelly in the late 1990s when she was in junior high school. She had tagged along to Kelly’s Chicago recording studio with her aunt, a professional singer working with Kelly. Soon after, Minor 1 told her parents Kelly was going to become her godfather.
Prosecutors say Kelly later threatened and sought to pay off Minor 1 and her parents so they wouldn’t testify at the 2008 trial. None of them did.
Double jeopardy rules bar the prosecution of someone for the same crimes they were acquitted of earlier. That doesn’t apply to the Chicago federal trial because prosecutors are alleging different crimes related to Minor 1, including obstruction of justice.
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