Jury selection close to finished in R. Kelly’s federal trial; opening statements likely Wednesday

CHICAGO — Another 24 potential jurors were questioned Tuesday during the first phase of jury selection for R. Kelly’s Chicago federal trial, and the selection process is expected to finish Tuesday afternoon.

Eleven prospective jurors questioned Tuesday were excused, including a woman who appeared to nearly faint as she was answering questions. The judge also dismissed a man who had been questioned Monday, bringing the total number of jurors who made it past the first round of cuts to 45.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber said that questioning would resume after a lunch break. After the initial dismissals for “cause,” prosecutors and attorneys for all three defendants can strike jurors without needing to state a reason. In addition to the 12 regular jurors, the judge has said he wants to empanel six alternates.

One potential juror had a medical episode in the middle of questioning Tuesday, a dizzy spell that hit just as Leinenweber was asking her how long she had lived in her current address. Emergency responders were summoned to the building, and the woman was dismissed from jury duty.

Apart from that, the questioning Tuesday morning was largely uneventful. As on Monday, Leinenweber’s questions for each potential juror have focused on what they might have seen or heard about Kelly in the news, and whether they’ve watched the Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly,” which detailed many of the sexual misconduct allegations that are part of the indictment.

Seated at the defense table, Kelly has been taking an active part in the selection process, putting headphones on to listen to sidebar conversations and whispering often with his attorneys.

The singer has also visibly reacted to many prospective jurors’ answers, including one woman, a retired teacher, who had him laughing out loud when she proudly said she’d filled out the questionnaire “all by myself.”

While Leinenweber said the trial might proceed to opening statements Tuesday, that now seems unlikely, given the pace of jury selection.

Kelly, 55, was charged with child pornography and obstruction of justice in a 2019 indictment alleging he conspired with others to rig his Cook County trial years ago by paying off a teenage girl whom he sexually assaulted on a now-infamous videotape.

Also facing trial are Kelly’s former business manager, Derrel McDavid, and another associate, Milton “June” Brown, who, according to the indictment, schemed to buy back incriminating sex tapes that had been taken from Kelly’s collection and hide years of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.

The trial is expected to last about four weeks.

Attorneys for McDavid filed a motion late Monday arguing that the indictment should be thrown out altogether, saying prosecutors waited an “inexcusable and unnecessary” amount of time to bring the charges.

In the decades since the alleged conduct occurred, the filing states, key witnesses who could help McDavid’s case have died. And important evidence related to Kelly’s 2008 trial in Cook County state court were destroyed after the standard seven years had passed, McDavid’s attorneys argue.

Federal authorities have known about the central videotape for years, and about at least one agreement to try to take back another incriminating tape, the filing alleges.

Potential jurors’ identities are being shielded from the public during the jury selection, and very little was revealed about them as Leinenweber asked each person to clarify answers they gave on a written questionnaire.

The majority of those who have been dismissed “for cause” by the judge have said they would have trouble being fair to Kelly due to what they already knew about the case. Others have claimed medical issues or other hardships would make it difficult to serve for such a lengthy period.

Some judges, faced with a prospective juror who is iffy about their neutrality, will try to “rehabilitate” them — reminding them of their civic duty to be fair, and asking pointedly if they can fulfill that obligation. But Leinenweber dismissed everyone who expressed even the tiniest doubts about their impartiality.

“Thinking about the case and the charges over the weekend, I no longer firmly believe that I can be unbiased,” one woman said at the outset of the questioning. Leinenweber promptly excused her.

Another woman said she went to Tae Kwon Do classes with Kelly’s children years ago, and the experience might keep her from being unbiased.

Another woman said her job involves advocating for children.

“I would do my best to be fair, be impartial. My only concern would be the defensiveness side kicking in, perhaps,” she said before Leinenweber excused her.

Much of the questioning revolved around the 2019 Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly,” which many potential jurors said they had watched or had at least heard of it.

Kelly’s lead attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, had asked the judge to automatically strike any juror who’d seen the documentary “for cause, saying the idea that they could remain impartial after such exposure “absurd.”

Leinenweber, though, said he would instead try to drill down on any potential biases through further questioning.

On Monday, one woman said she saw all 12 episodes of the series, but insisted it would not affect her ability to be fair — prompting some audible snickers from a few Kelly supporters watching from the courtroom gallery.

Another prospective juror said he watched part of an episode with his wife but didn’t remember anything substantive about it.

“I think I might have even fallen asleep before the end of it,” he said.

Leinenweber has said he wanted a winnowed-down pool of at least 40 potential jurors before moving to the peremptory strike phase.

The trial is Kelly’s first criminal case to go before a jury in his hometown since his stunning acquittal 14 years ago on the Cook County case.

Kelly faces a total of 13 counts, including production of child pornography, conspiracy to produce child pornography, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Some of the counts carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars if convicted, while others have ranges of from 5 to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors are also seeking a personal money forfeiture of $1.5 million from Kelly.

Regardless of the outcome, Kelly is still facing decades in prison. In June, he was sentenced to 30 years on federal racketeering charges brought in New York. He is appealing both the jury’s verdict and the sentence in that case.

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