R. Kelly’s Legal Team Asks Supreme Court To Reverse His Sex Crimes Convictions, Claims Accusations Are Outside Of Statute Of Limitations
R. Kelly’s Legal Team Asks Supreme Court To Reverse His Sex Crimes Convictions, Claims Accusations Are Outside Of Statute Of Limitations
R. Kelly wants to be a free man ASAP.
The disgraced R&B crooner, 57, is taking his case to the Supreme Court with hopes of getting his previous sex crimes conviction overturned.
If you remember, R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty on three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity in September 2022. That case was held in a federal court in Chicago.
In another case, he was also previously sentenced to 30 years for sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York.
According to ABC News, his attorney Jennifer Bonjean filed a petition of writ of certiorari earlier today (July 30), which gives the court permission to review and potentially reverse a lower court’s decision.
R. Kelly’s legal team is arguing that the claims were outside of the statute of limitation as he was officially accused in 2020, per TMZ.
However, prosecutors pointed to the PROTECT Act, which makes the statute of limitations in child sex crimes cases void. At the same time, Jennifer Bonjean says the act shouldn’t be applied because it wasn’t enacted until 2003. The accusations against R. Kelly date back to the 1990s. The act doesn’t detail any stipulations for cases that occurred before 2003.
The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision later this year.
This isn’t the first time that R. Kelly has taken this angle in recent months. In April, he challenged the Chicago conviction, however, the Supreme Court sided against him and agreed with the appeals court.
The ruling reads in part,
“In its words, “the nature of [Kelly’s] offense is horrible, horrific…” We will not second-guess that exercise of discretion. No statute of limitations saves him, and the resulting sentence was procedurally proper and — especially under these appalling circumstances — substantively fair.”
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