R.Kelly & His Legal Team Wanted To Prohibit White People From Serving On Jury Of Child Pornography Case In Chicago

August 17, 2022 by S. G. in Music with 0 Comments

R.Kelly – Singer & His Legal Team Wanted To Prohibit White People From Serving On Jury Of Child Pornography Case In Chicago

If R.Kelly had his way, there would be no white jurors present as he stands trial in Chicago.

According to Radar Online, R.Kelly and his legal team put forth extra effort in court to prevent as many white people as they could from serving on the jury for his upcoming trial in Chicago.

According to an August 16 tweet from Chicago Tribune reporter Jason Meisner,

“For the record, nearly every single peremptory strike by the defense in the #RKelly regular jury makeup was of a white person (I counted 12). They also moved to strike one Asian woman and one Black woman.”

Prosecutors previously requested for jurors’ names, spouses’ names, cities of residence and places of employment all be kept confidential out of fear for their safety. They raised concerns that outside parties would make an effort to get in touch with and sway jurors.

At the time, prosecutors said,

“Kelly is an international celebrity in the music industry. Between 1996 and 2015, Kelly was nominated for over 250 music awards, including 26 Grammy Awards. Kelly has a fervent fanbase, including many individuals who actively use various social media platforms to share their opinions about Kelly and his ongoing criminal cases.”

R.Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in July after being found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering in September 2021. He was recently transferred from a prison in New York to one in Illinois, where he now faces charges of child pornography for allegedly filming the sex abuse of five women.

The disgraced singer and his legal team requested on August 15 that any potential jurors be excluded if they had watched any part of Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries. They claimed anyone who had watched any part of the film could not be impartial.

The judge also denied that request, which claimed that,

“any potential juror who has watched any portion of this docuseries must be disqualified for cause on whether they can be fair, too great a risk exists that such a juror would base their verdict on matters not introduced into evidence in the courtroom.”

Four white women, four black women, two white men and two Black men make up the jury’s final composition. The alternates include two Black women, two white women, and a white man.

What are your thoughts on the entire situation? Let us know in the comments!