R. Kelly is seen in a courtroom sketch during his federal trial on Aug. 19, 2022, at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.
Kelly was acquitted, however, of the count alleging he videotaped himself having sexual contact with “Jane” and prosecution witness Lisa Van Allen. While Van Allen and Jane testified that the threesome occurred and was videotaped, jurors did not view footage from that encounter. Prosecutors said that’s because Kelly’s enablers successfully concealed it.
As he was found not guilty on the last of the counts against him, McDavid shot up from his seat in the middle of the courtroom and thrust both fists toward the ceiling. Later, he bear-hugged Kelly and appeared to whisper something in his ear before the singer was led away to the lockup by deputy U.S. marshals.
Jurors acquitted Kelly and his co-defendants on all counts related to their alleged attempt to cover up incriminating tapes while Kelly was awaiting trial in Cook County. The charges alleged a wide-ranging scheme to retrieve the videotapes and pressure Jane to keep quiet about her sexual contact with the singer.
In a news conference after court, McDavid’s attorney Beau Brindley said the verdict proved Van Allen and Freeman were liars. Prosecutors noted in closing arguments that what matters for the federal charge is that she was under the age of 18. But Kelly’s defense seized on it as evidence of her overall unreliability – and said it shows that one encounter with Kelly at a Westin Hotel in fact occurred when she was 18.
Prosecutors have said Jane lied to a state grand jury investigating that tape, claiming she wasn’t the girl depicted and that she and Kelly had never had a sexual relationship. Her absence at the 2008 trial was the defining factor in the jury’s finding of not guilty. Last month, Jane testified for the first time that not only was it her on the videotapes, but that Kelly had sexually abused her “innumerable” times when she was a minor, at his recording studio, his home, on tour buses and in hotel rooms.
Jane’s parents lied to the grand jury about her sexual relationship with the singer because “they didn’t care,” Bonjean said. “She was 17 and they didn’t care ... They condoned it.”Bonjean noted that when “Surviving R. Kelly” was coming out, Jane repeatedly reached out to Kelly but he never tried to influence her in any way. “He changed his phone number,” she said. “He goes silent on her. This is the most disinterested person in obstructing that I have ever seen.
Guilty!
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