R.Kelly – Judge Will Allow Cameras In Court Room, 2 Witnesses Refuse To Be Filmed

R.Kelly mugshot

R.Kelly – Judge Will Allow Cameras In Court Room, 2 Witnesses Refuse To Be Filmed

R. Kelly’s trial will be televised. The singer, who is currently facing 10 felony counts for criminal sexual abuse for allegedly sexually assaulting women (including minors) will be on trial in front of cameras, judge Lawrence Flood determined Friday.

“The coverage is allowed for March 22 [the next hearing] and all subsequent proceeding.”

Audio recordings and photographs will be permitted as well, according to reports.

While Kelly, who pleaded not guilty, wasn’t present for the hearing when Flood made his decision, his attorney, Steve Greenberg, said he’s not against the cameras being in the courtroom.

“Mr. Kelly wants everyone to know what is going on in an open and transparent process. People can form their own opinions about what they see, and they don’t have to rely on rumor or innuendo.”

R.Kelly Turns Himself Into Police

Still, two out of the four women who claimed Kelly assaulted them, leading to his current charges, told Flood in letters they don’t want their appearances in court to be recorded. One of his accusers, with the initials H.W., said:

“I have no interest in being a media spectacle.”

She added that Kelly’s lawyers tried to “publicly shame” the women who were making claims against him. Flood does have the authority to stop the recording for each witness to conceal their identity.

Greenberg spoke out against the victims just after Kelly turned himself in for the charges last month.

“I think all the women are lying. This has become, ‘Hey, R. Kelly – I can say R. Kelly did something’ – boom.”

See footage of Kelly going to turn himself in below.

His court dates won’t be the first time we’ll see Kelly speaking on claims against him on television. He did his first sit-down interview earlier this month with Gayle King. In that interview, he adamantly denied allegations that he was holding women hostage in his home.

“I don’t need to. Why would I? How stupid would it be for R. Kelly, with all I’ve been through in my way way past, to hold somebody, let alone 4, 5, 6, 50, you said – why – how stupid would I be to do that?!…That’s stupid, guys!…Use your common sense. Forget the blogs, forget how you feel about me. Hate me if you want to, love me if you want. But just use your common sense. How stupid would it be for me, with my crazy past and what I’ve been through – oh right, now I just think I have to be monster, and hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement, and don’t let them eat, don’t let them out, unless they need some shoes down the street from their uncle!”

Gayle King & R.Kelly

“Stop it. You all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my f***ing life! Y’all killing me with this sh*t! I gave you 30 years of my f***ing career!…And y’all trying to kill me? You killing me, man! This is not about music! I’m trying to have a relationship with my kids! And I can’t do it! Y’all just don’t want to believe the truth! You don’t want to believe it! It’s real girls out there missing! There’s real young girls out there being abducted, being raped, OK? They really are on chains. They really do have chains on their—on their wrists and they can’t get out and they end up buried and dead.”

His live-in girlfriend, Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary, who were said to be held against their will, also came to Kelly’s defense and accused their parents of making claims against Kelly to extort him.

Kelly’s publicist, Darrell Johnson, told CNN’s Don Lemon that he’s confident Kelly’s sit-down with King was ultimately beneficial for the singer.

“How do you act when you’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison? I think the interview needed to happen. I think there are several things that happened after that. I think it did help. I’m not worried. I’m a crisis manager. My job is to help my client. We have to let the facts take us where we go.”

He also encouraged all of the people accusing Kelly to “present their facts” in court.

Meanwhile, Kelly is also in legal trouble for back child support. He was released from jail for not being able to pay $161,000. Johnson said the fans came up with the $161,000 needed to get him out of jail.

Do you think there should be cameras for R. Kelly’s trial? Let us know in the comments!