EDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 4 – The morning of jury
selection in the R.Kelly
trial, which began on August
18 with no call-in line and no
Press or public in the
courtroom, his lawyers
docketed a motion
to dismiss, below.
On
September 2, Inner City Press
went to the EDNY courthouse in
Brooklyn, before 9 am. There
were supporters of R.Kelly on
the sidewalk in front, one
with a tiara; there was other
journalists. On a delay
occasioned by the flooding of
the subway system, all entered
and up to the (overflow)
Courtroom on the sixth floor.
On TV
screens, at first two lawyers
milled about, then others,
then Judge Ann Donnelly
herself. Why she decided not
only to ban the Press and
public from the actual
courtroom, where the reactions
of the jury for example could
be gauged, but worse to have
no call-in line, is not known.
During the
proceedings, several times the
prosecutor said an exhibit was
being entered into evidence,
but it was not even put on the
screen for the press and
public to see. Since August 23
to the morning of September 2,
only one exhibit was made
available.
Now on
September 4 the US has filed a
motion in limine to try to get
into evidence testimony about
events in 1991: "If permitted
to testify regarding her
sexual abuse by the defendant,
Jane Doe #7 is expected
to testify that in or about
1991, she met the defendant at
his apartment in
Chicago, Illinois after a
female acquaintance, who was
also a minor and an aspiring
singer, invited Jane Doe
#7 to come to the defendant’s
apartment with her. Two other
minor females also came
to the apartment with them.
Notably, when the minors
arrived at the
defendant’s apartment, certain
of the defendant’s associates
– including his tour
manager, Demetrius Smith
– were at the apartment.
Inside the
apartment, the defendant went
inside a room and
invited each of the minor
females into the room ad
seriatim until they all
were inside. The
defendant’s associates
remained outside the room.
After Jane Doe #7 entered the
room, the defendant initiated
and engaged in sexual
intercourse with her. Jane Doe
#7 also saw the
defendant engage in sexual
contact with other minors
inside the room.
Thereafter, the
defendant regularly invited
Jane Doe #7 and the other
minors to visit him at
his home and at his recording
studio. In 1992, Jane Doe #7
became part of a girl group
that traveled with the
defendant providing background
vocals and dancing. (Jane Doe
#7 was still a minor and
worked mainly as a background
dancer.) In this time period,
the defendant introduced
Jane Doe #7 to Jane Doe #1,
another minor and aspiring
singer who the defendant
began working with.
The defendant
indicated to Jane Doe #1 that
Jane Doe #7 and other
members of the girl group were
to become Jane Doe #1’s
“posse” and best
friends. Subsequently,
while traveling as a back-up
dancer on tour with the
defendant along with
Jane Doe #1 and others,
Jane Doe #7 observed the
defendant engage in sexual
contact with Jane Doe #1
in a room at the back of his
tour bus. Such evidence
is necessary background for,
and inextricably intertwined
with, the evidence the
Court has permitted Jane Doe
#7 to testify about, namely
her witnessing the
defendant engaged in sexual
contact with Jane Doe #1. The
full context of Jane Doe
#7’s own interactions
with the defendant – including
her sexual interactions with
him as a minor and her
having previously witnessed
sexual acts between the
defendant and other minors –
is necessary to explain
why she was in a position to
witness the defendant engaged
in a sexual act with
Jane Doe #1, also a minor.
Without this context, the jury
is likely to be left
wondering why Jane Doe #7 –
also a minor – was hired as a
background dancer for
the defendant’s tour and
why the defendant was careless
enough to engage in such
sexual contact with Jane Doe
#1 on a tour bus where Jane
Doe #7 was present. FN: In
addition, based on the trial
thus far, the defendant
undoubtedly intends to
crossexamine Jane Doe #7
regarding what she witnessed
and to argue that she is
fabricating her account
of what she witnessed." Yes,
that would be a line of
cross-examintion...
September
2 witnesses began with a Mr.
Yong Fe Wu (phonetic), a
forensic biologist in
Illinois. He put big numbers
on the screen -- look, Ma,
thirty zeros! - but when
R.Kelly's lawyer Cannick asked
if if weren't possible that
the semen-stained shirt he
tested hadn't been taken by
someone coming over the fence,
he replied, I don't know that
story.
Next up
was Homeland Security Special
Agent Chris Wilson, not to be
confused with the next
witness, Chris' cousin Mike.
Chris testified at length
about photos and text messages
extracted from two iPhones and
one laptop taken from R.Kelly.
Then Mike Kelly,
who was present at the arrest
on July 11, 2019 in Chicago's
Trump building, testified
about an iPad.
During
this, the woman in the tiara,
whose birthday it was and is
and who said she was spending
it with the "King of R&B,"
fell asleep on the back bench
of the overflow courtroom and,
to be honest, began to snore.
A Court Security
Officer came in and told her,
you can't sleep in the
courtroom, you have to go
outside. But she sat up and
remarked, accurately, "This is
the boring part."
And needlessly
opaque - no exhibits, no call
in line. Watch this site. And
this vlog;
hear this
podcast.
Previously,
reverse chronological:
With less
transparency each week, now no
exhibits have been made
available since August 23. On
the morning of August 21, the
defense filed a request for
access to legal mail and
documents they say have been
withheld for more than two
months (photo of letter
Tweeted here)
and now full letter on Inner
City Press' DocumentCloud here
"RE: United
States v. Robert Kelly
Criminal Docket No.: 19-286
(AMD) Dear Judge Donnelly: The
defense writes to respectfully
request that the Court Order
that the Bureau of Prisons and
U.S. Marshals provide Mr.
Kelly with his legal mail and
documents that were collected
when he was moved from MCC
Chicago to MDC Brooklyn. Mr.
Kelly was moved to MDC
Brooklyn over two months ago
and his mail and legal
documents from MCC Chicago
have not been delivered.
Accordingly, it is
respectfully requested that
the Court Order that the BOP
and U.S. Marshals provide Mr.
Kelly his legal mail and
documents from MCC Chicago."
Watch this site - & this.
Previously,
for
Day 4, with victim(s)
with
pseudonym(s)
projected to
testify,
here's the US
Attorney's
Office motion
in limine to
keep their
identities
from public
disclosure:
"The
government
respectfully
submits this
memorandum of
law in support
of its
motion in
limine in
advance of
trial in this
matter,
currently
scheduled to
commence
on
August 9,
2021. This
motion in
limine seeks
to protect the
identities of
certain
charged
victims
referred to as
Jane Doe #2,
Jane Doe #3
and Jane Doe
#5 in the
third
superseding
indictment
(hereinafter
referred to as
the
“Victim-Witnesses”)
that are
expected to
provide,
and/or will be
the subject
of, sensitive
and personal
testimony
concerning
illegal
sexual
abuse, sexual
contact and
other acts
committed by
the defendant
at
trial.1
Specifically,
the
government
moves the
Court to: (1)
permit the
Victim-Witnesses
to testify
using a
pseudonym or
their first
names only;
(2) limit
references to
each of the
Victim-Witnesses
in open
court to their
pseudonyms or
first names
only; and (3)
prevent public
disclosure,
via
cross-examination
or otherwise
of the
Victim-Witnesses
respective
addresses,
names of
family members
or exact place
of employment,
if any."
Inner
City Press is
publishing
the full
motion on its
DocumentCloud
here,
and song here.
On Day
3, Anthony
Navarro said
he's since
worked with
Taylor Swift,
Jay-Z, &
Kanye: “Most
of the work
[for them] is
just
professional
work." And the
rest of
the work?
There were
eight more
exhibits; Inner
City Press
immediately
published four
of them here.
On
Day 2,
Jerhonda Pace
was cross
examined, with
Deveraux
Cannick asking
her about a
settlement she
signed stated
that she
agreed she
never revealed
to Kelly that
she was a
minor. Dr.
Kris McGrath
was questioned
by AUSA Nadia
Shihata
Police Officer
Garrick Amschl
of the Olympia
Fields Police
Department
testified. And
(much) later,
20 exhibits,
with Inner
City Press
immediately
posting nine
of them, here.
As Inner City
Press noted
mid-day, Judge
Donnelly
admonished
R.Kelly's
defense... for
a tweet. Inner
City Press has
reached out
and will
report
results. For
now, this.
On Day 1 of
the trial, August 18, after
openings by Assistant U.S.
Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez
and then defense counsel Nicole
Blank Becker, the first
government witness, Jerhonda
Pace ("Jane Doe #4") testified
on direct examination. The
docket reflects: "Witness
sworn and testified. Exhibits
marked and entered into
evidence." But as of 9:45 pm,
none of the exhibits were
available.
Inner City
Press which successfully
advocated for the restoration
of call-in access to January 6
proceedings in the District
for the District of Columbia,
did an August 18 stand-up
outside the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York, here
From the motion
to dismiss: "Mr. r. Kelly
respectfully submits this
memorandum of law in support
of his pre-trial motion
to dismiss in advance of trial
in this matter, which is
scheduled to commence on
August 18, 2021. This
motion seeks to dismiss the
predicate acts alleged in
Count 1, numbers 12 and 14, as
well as the Mann Act
violations alleged in Count 6
through Count 9 and in Count 1
Racketeering Act 1,
Racketeering Act 2,
Racketeering Act 3,
Racketeering 7, Racketeering
Act 10 and dispute the
venue in the third superseding
indictment filed on March 13,
2020, pursuant to the Rule
12(b)(2) of the Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure."
Inner City
Press is publishing the full
memo on its DocumentCloud, here.
Inner City Press will continue
to follow and report on the
case. It is US v. Robert
Sylvester Kelly, a/k/a R.
Kelly, EDNY Docket No.
19-cr-286 (AMD). More on Patreon here.
***
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