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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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R. Kelly jurors picked, will remain anonymous during trial

One juror came to court on Wednesday in a panic following the first two days of jury selection. 

BROOKLYN (CN) — A jury of seven men and five women will decide whether R&B singer R. Kelly lured minors into a sex ring, often with promises that he could jump-start their own music careers. 

Most jurors interviewed during two days of voir dire had heard of Kelly. Several mentioned his mid-1990s hit, “I Believe I Can Fly.” Others referenced a 2019 interview the singer gave with Gayle King about the allegations against him. (It was later parodied on "Saturday Night Live.") 

But among the jurors selected were several who were almost completely unfamiliar with Kelly, 54, despite his decades-long career as an entertainer. 

One juror admitted he had confused Kelly with the cartoonist R. Crumb. 

Another said that he had heard of Kelly, and seen news articles — but “every single time I had to remind myself who it was.” The same juror said he followed the trial of comedian Bill Cosby because he has a friend in Cosby’s family — and wrote on a questionnaire mailed ahead of jury selection that “trial by media is worse than trial by jury.”

U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly questioned the pool of dozens of jurors herself, though defense and government attorneys had sidebar conferences throughout the process to request certain follow-up questions. 

In addition to studying their commitment to presuming Kelly innocent, Donnelly asked each juror if they would have a bias against exhibits or testimony depicting sex between people of the same gender. Kelly is accused of directing female victims to have sex with each other, including with his participation, and two of his alleged victims are male. 

Donnelly excused two jurors who said they were victims of sexual assault, including one who said the allegations against Kelly reminded her of an experience from her childhood. The judge also excused two women who said that they believe women are unlikely to lie about being raped. 

On Wednesday, four more jurors were excused from a group that had been narrowed to 50 the day before. Two had travel plans, but two others expressed feeling overwhelmed by the thought of sitting through trial.

“I got home and started freaking out about having to cancel my trip,” one woman told the judge, adding that she “had many panic attacks throughout the night.”

“I couldn't think of any solution other than to look up the defendant's name,” she said — and although she closed the window right away, she saw a photo that triggered her memory of watching Kelly’s interview with Gayle King. 

“I remember being shocked and scared,” she said, that Kelly had “done some terrible things. … I can’t not know that.” 

Next came a juror who was hyperventilating and seemed to be on the edge of tears. 

Since the day before, “I have been like this,” she said. “I don’t want to get into details,” she said, who explained that she had experienced an upset stomach and was unsure exactly what was causing her condition. 

After prosecutors used their first three peremptory challenges to remove three Black women from the jury pool, defense attorney Devereaux Cannick objected with what is known as a Batson challenge. 

“There doesn’t seem to be a gender-neutral nor race-neutral reason for challenging” the jurors, said Cannick, of the firm Aiello & Cannick. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes responded that one of the jurors had “indicated that the women stayed with him,” referring to Kelly’s alleged victims, and another had said that “allegations don’t matter,” suggesting a lack of concern over the changes. 

Donnelly disagreed with Cannick after a 10-minute break to consider the objection. 

The government then made a counter-Batson challenge, based on white jurors whom Kelly’s team had chosen to strike. After a conference between the parties, Geddes said she was satisfied that “there are sufficient reasons for each of those” decisions. 

The anonymous and partially sequestered jurors, sworn in on Wednesday afternoon, will be transported to and from the courthouse by U.S. marshals every day of trial. Neither the judge nor parties to the case know their names, work history or other personal details. 

“I did this out of respect for your privacy,” Donnelly told the first group to be questioned on Monday. 

Sexual abuse allegations have followed Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, for decades. In 2008, he was acquitted in Chicago on child pornography charges. 

The trial in Brooklyn will begin with opening arguments on August 18. 

Follow @NinaPullano
Categories / Criminal, Entertainment, Trials

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