Attorneys for R. Kelly and his co-defendants will have the chance to present witnesses Thursday morning after federal prosecutors rested their case-in-chief against the disgraced singer earlier this week.
But first, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber is expected to announce his rulings on the defendants’ requests to acquit them of all charges before the jury even gets the case.
The motions for judgment of acquittal, filed at the conclusion of the prosecution’s case on Tuesday, are routine in criminal trials and almost always denied. At the very least, they are meant to preserve issues for a possible appeal down the road.
However U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber said before the motions were argued Wednesday that he would not rule immediately, as there were several issues that in his view “deserve consideration.”
Once the motions are decided, all eyes will turn to the defendants: Kelly and his former associates Derrel McDavid and Milton “June” Brown. Their attorneys are scheduled to begin presenting their cases Thursday.
Kelly, 55, is charged with 13 counts of production of child pornography, conspiracy to produce child pornography and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
McDavid and Brown are charged in an alleged scheme to buy back incriminating sex tapes that had been taken from Kelly’s collection and hide years of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.
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Defense attorneys have so far hinted at an eclectic hodgepodge of potential witnesses, including disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, former Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis, and the former lead prosecutor on the case, Angel Krull, who exchanged emails with the star witness that defense attorneys suggested were inappropriate.
Attorney Jennifer Bonjean, who is representing Kelly, told the judge Wednesday that she intends to call record company executive Cathy Carroll, who, according to testimony, introduced one of the Kelly’s alleged minor victims to the singer when the teen interned for her in the late 1990s. Bonjean’s cross-examination on the topic disputed that timeline vigorously, asserting that Kelly actually met the accuser after she had reached the legal age of consent.
McDavid attorney Beau Brindley told reporters this week his team plans to call several witnesses, including a former bodyguard for private investigator Jack Palladino. Brindley claimed the witness will say McDavid was not present for a meeting between Palladino and prosecution witness Chuck Freeman about recovering an alleged videotape of Kelly having sex with a minor.
McDavid himself is expected to take the stand in his own defense, which likely will happen Tuesday. That testimony will be “substantial,” Brindley told reporters.
McDavid’s attorneys also want to show jurors a set of documents from the now-deceased Palladino, who dealt with prosecution witness Charles Freeman regarding the recovery of certain video footage.
While Freeman testified that he sought out the videos at Kelly’s behest, McDavid’s defense is aiming to paint Freeman as a greedy extortionist.
The memos they are seeking to admit describe McDavid’s “perennial requests for more money” and note that — since Freeman failed a polygraph — a payment was not for the return of a tape but instead “a quid pro quo for information concerning various disloyal members of R. Kelly’s ‘posse.’”
In one memorable passage, Palladino describes Freeman as “a sleazy bottom-feeder who whines endlessly apparently out of the belief that being extremely annoying is a winning negotiating strategy.”
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Kelly’s attorneys, meanwhile, have not said whether the singer will testify, but it would seem to be extremely unlikely given the nature of the charges and the exposure to cross-examination.
“We are still mulling that over,” Bonjean told reporters Wednesday in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.
Bonjean added that her client is grateful for the support he’s received from fans and that he’s had the opportunity to challenge the witnesses against him in a court of law, rather than having them tell their stories in a one-sided documentary.”
“It’s hard to listen to people tell falsehoods, and because you are perceived as this monster, you have lost your voice to say, “No, that’s a lie,” she said.
Prosecutors rested their case-in-chief Tuesday after calling some 25 witnesses over 10 days of testimony, including four women who said that Kelly had sexually abused them when they were underage. A fifth alleged minor victim mentioned in the indictment, was not called to testify for reasons that so far have not been explained.
