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#Singer serial number search trial#

His accusers said they were under orders to call him “Daddy,” expected to jump and kiss him anytime he walked into a room, and to cheer only for him when he played pickup basketball games in which they said he was a ball hog. 18, prosecutors painted the 54-year-old singer as a pampered man-child and control freak.

#Singer serial number search trial#

The trial was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and Kelly’s last-minute shakeup of his legal team. Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been jailed without bail since in 2019. “You made a choice,” Cannick told one woman who testified, adding, “You participated of your own will.” The defense labeled the accusers “groupies” and “stalkers.”Ĭannick questioned why the alleged victims stayed in relationships with Kelly if they thought they were being exploited.

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Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez argued that Kelly was a serial abuser who “maintained control over these victims using every trick in the predator handbook.” Jurors were shown homemade videos of Kelly engaging in sex acts that prosecutors said were not consensual.Īssistant U.S. Kelly” helped make his case a signifier of the #MeToo era, and gave voice to accusers who wondered if their stories were previously ignored because they were Black women.Īt the trial, several of Kelly’s accusers testified without using their real names to protect their privacy and prevent possible harassment by the singer’s fans. Widespread public condemnation didn’t come until a widely watched docuseries “Surviving R.

Other artists continued to record his songs, even after he was arrested in 2002 and accused of making a recording of himself sexually abusing and urinating on a 14-year-old girl. His records and concert tickets kept selling. “I think I’m even more disappointed the government brought the case in the first place given all the inconsistencies,' Cannick said.įor years, the public and news media seemed to be more amused than horrified by allegations of inappropriate relationships with minors, starting with Kelly’s illegal marriage to the R&B phenom Aaliyah in 1994 when she was just 15. Kelly lawyer Deveraux Cannick said he was disappointed by the verdict. Kelly was also convicted of criminal counts accusing him of violating the Mann Act, which makes it illegal to take anyone across state lines “for any immoral purpose.” Several accusers testified in lurid detail during the trial, alleging that Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage.

The charges were based on an argument that the entourage of managers and aides who helped the singer meet girls - and keep them obedient and quiet - amounted to a criminal enterprise.