The judge in R. Kelly’s child pornography and obstruction trial has reportedly denied his legal team’s request to ban potential jurors who have seen the Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly,” after filing the motion ahead of jury selection yesterday morning. As previously reported, Kelly is facing a heap of accusations in his Chicago trial, including coercing five minors into sexual activities, while also allegedly producing and obtaining videos and photos of underage girls engaging in explicit acts with the singer.
On Monday morning, Kelly’s team sent out a request to the judge, asking that if jurors had either come across or watched 2019’s “Surviving,” they should be banned from being summoned to the court, contending that their client would not stand a fair trial if accusations made in the documentary are to be considered — especially when those allegations are not related to his particular case.
Second federal trial against R. Kelly begins in Chicago. If he’s convicted of charges he could face decades more in prison. pic.twitter.com/Bj9mQhsADb
— SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) August 15, 2022
But Judge Harry Leinenweber reportedly denied the motion, meaning that even if potential jurors had seen the doc, they would still be allowed in the courtroom. “Surviving R. Kelly” consisted of two seasons that heavily touched on Kelly’s upbringing and his alleged problematic past which saw him marrying a then-15-year-old Aaliyah, with others claiming he sexually and physically abused them for years.
Prior to the judge’s decision, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said it would be “unfair” for Kelly to stand trial with jurors who had already painted a picture of him based on what they may have seen in the Lifetime documentary. It would undoubtedly influence their decision on how they would feel about the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer regardless of what evidence he may have to prove his innocence in this particular case.
“No one, even a well-intentioned person, would be capable of purging his brain of information obtained through the docuseries or separating information learned from the documentary that was never subject to cross-examination from testimony introduced at trial on the same subject matter,” she said via the New York Post.
If you watched surviving r kelly and still use this hashtag. I don’t know what to say. He is a text book predator. He got away with it for years. #FreeRKelly
— FanGirlforever (@BooksmartBabe8) August 15, 2022
“There is substantial overlap between the subject matter of this prosecution and the subject matter of the documentary. Allowing an individual to sit on this jury who has seen Surviving R Kelly is no different than allowing a juror to sit on the jury who was permitted to preview the discovery in this case.”
Last month, it was revealed that Kelly’s legal team had also requested that topics concerning the sex offender’s former marriage to Aaliyah should not be brought up in court because the matter had absolutely nothing to do with the charges he’s facing in his Chicago trial. Last year, it was revealed that the late “Rock The Boat” songstress married Kelly when she was 15 in a low-key ceremony where she obscured her face to avoid people from noticing how young she was.