: CHICAGO (AP) — Prosecutors wrapped up their child pornography case Thursday against R. Kelly the same way they began it a month ago: by playing for jurors the entire graphic sex tape at the center of the trial.
Defense attorneys stood on their argument that the man having sex with an underage girl in the video is not the R&B singer — and that the girl isn't who prosecutors say she is, either.
Jurors began deliberating Thursday afternoon and continued until about 6 p.m. The nine-man, three-woman panel was told to return first thing Friday morning and was immediately sequestered, with the explicit scenes in question fresh in their minds.
Earlier in the day, the 27-minute film played on a monitor just outside the jury's box — the lights switched off and the blinds pulled across courtroom windows — as Assistant State's Attorney Robert Heilengoetter read through sections of the 14-count indictment that accuses Kelly of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty and both he and the alleged victim, now 23, deny being on the tape. Neither testified at trial. But as the video played Thursday, Heilengoetter told jurors the man on the tape is Kelly and that he controlled the encounter.
"There, listen to his directions," Heilengoetter said. He is "directing her to dance, where to stand, when to stop urinating," he said.
At one point in the video, entered into evidence as "People's Exhibit No. 1," the female dances and urinates on the floor — the man out of view. Back in view, he has sex with her. In one scene near the end of the video, alluded to in one count of the indictment, the man urinates on the female.
Defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. adamantly denied the 41-year-old superstar was featured in the film. And he called the woman seen on the tape a "professional prostitute" — not the alleged victim who prosecutors said was as young as 13 when the encounter occurred.
Adam insisted that if jurors were to believe prosecutors' arguments and convict Kelly, they'd also condemn the girl they allege to be on the video.
"In order to (find Kelly guilty), and I apologize for saying this, but you are going to have to call her 14 times, individually and collectively, a whore," Adam told the jurors.
Kelly sat across the room from jurors at the defense table in a gray pinstripe suit, his hands folded in front of him and his brown shoes tucked under his chair. As the sex tape played, he appeared tense, keeping his eyes on the monitor, his mouth drawn tight and his brow furrowed.
"The one person who is responsible is sitting right here," Assistant State's Attorney Shauna Boliker said, pointing at Kelly and describing the tape as "vile and disgusting."
"What you know now is that this is not a whodunit, but a he-did-it," she said.
Jurors, who got the case and deliberated for about three hours Thursday afternoon, had seen the entirety of the tape just after opening arguments more than a month ago and viewed excerpts during the weeks of testimony. They watched again Thursday without the visible signs of apparent shock from the first time.
Not long into deliberations, jurors sent a note to the judge asking for a transcript of the entire trial, or at least the testimony from Lisa Van Allen. The 27-year-old had testified that she engaged in several three-way sexual encounters with Kelly and the alleged victim. A defense witness had testified that he believed Van Allen and her fiance wanted to extort money from Kelly.
Judge Vincent Gaughan sent a note back to the jury saying the transcripts weren't yet available and to "please continue to deliberate," which they did until they adjourned.
While jurors took meticulous notes during testimony, most rarely paused to take notes Thursday. But they appeared rapt as they listened to Adam's animated and impassioned closing. His face frequently turning red and his voice occasionally approaching a yell, Adam pounded his index finger and fist on the jury box railing and referred to a defense argument that a mole on Kelly's back proved he simply can't be the man in the video.
After displaying a freeze frame of the man's back in video — with no apparent mole — Adam walked over to the defense table and placed his hand on Kelly's shoulder.
"The truth be told, there is no mole ... that means one thing," Adam said.
Then pausing and lowering his voice: "It ain't him. And if it ain't him, you can't convict."
Over seven days presenting their case, prosecutors called 22 witnesses, including several childhood friends of the alleged victim and four of her relatives who identified her as the female on the video. Some said she had referred to Kelly as her "godfather."
In just two days, the Grammy winner's lawyers called 12 witnesses. They included three relatives of the alleged victim who testified they did not recognize her as the female on the tape.
Adam also told jurors that even the alleged victim's family members who testified for prosecutors could not have been sure it was really her.
"Any solid man in that family, any solid woman in that family would have gone over there and broken his legs, would have gone over there and beat the crap out of him" if they believed she and Kelly were on the tape, Adam said.
The family also would have gotten an order of protection against Kelly, but none of that happened, he said.
But one prosecutor, Heilengoetter, had argued the alleged victim's relatives were angry, citing testimony during which an aunt who was a one-time artistic collaborator with Kelly described how she introduced the singer to the alleged victim when the girl was around 12 or 13 years old.
"You can imagine the betrayal that she felt toward the defendant," Heilengoetter said. "This person that she introduced to her 12-year-old niece ... You could feel her outrage, couldn't you?"
The other prosecutor, Boliker, later took the defense to task for suggesting conspiracies and extortion plots somehow account for the sex tape.
"All this innuendo and speculation is just that," she said.
@ dre7
i already said if he goes to jail, i am going to resign from my current posistion, move to the state that move him to, take correctional officer courses and work where ever they have him at.
did the r. kelly fans see the pics of him going into court yesterday? i almost sexually assaulted my monitor he was looking so fine!!!
If R Kelly does not go to jail for this this will be just another example of our judicial system failing us, he is a talented artist cant take that away from him we all know that, but u some of you feel that because he's "R KELLY" that he suppose to fly free, it is him on the tape i saw it several years ago when i was in college its him clearly point blank, the way he urinated on the kid is messed up she was even in shock when he did" like ok nicca u going to far " lol but the truth will set u free!
I DON'T THINK HE'S GOING TO JAIL. THAT MOLE DISAPPEARING THEN REAPPEARING COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND ALSO THEY ASK FOR THE GIRL VAN TESTIMONY CUZ SHE ADMITTED SHE STOLE FROM HIM AND HAD ALL THIS *** BUT THEN WHEN SHE WASN'T IN THE PICTURE NO MORE ALL OF A SUDDEN SHE WANTED TO CRY BUT SHE WASN'T CRYING IN THE "I WISH" VIDEO.
R. Kelly is going down! I hope they give him the MAXIMUN SENTENCE which is life in prison...WE don't need this WILD APE on tha streets...I hope he enjoyed screwing all that underage poonani and *** while he was free cause all he's gonna get now is TURNED THA *** OUT iN PRISON...the prisoners are going to TEAR OPEN HIS AZZ and he will need to wear DEPENDS PAMPERS from now on...THIS PERVERT DESERVES EVERYTHING NEGATIVE THAT COMES HIS WAY!...
@ Dre No one is condoning *** with a kid and someone should have been providing better guidance to that minor child also sounds like neglect to me because I know where my minor children are all day everyday. You don't leave 12/13 year old little girls with grown men period.
there is just so many unanswered questions with this case even if he is on the *** tape
Instead of bringing the tape to the local paper why didn't her family get a protective order or take steps.. namely Aunty sparkle when she seen it before she dropped it off?
Sparkle knew how he was from jump and I don't give a *** my young niece,etc would not be left alone with a grown *** man I am working with just because I am comfortable with him.
Her family obviously didn't do a whole lot to protect her either. Why..because they wanted to stay in star's good graces (so called).
Why didn't family members come forward when they heard? Oh and they heard long before it went to the local paper.
The same person that dropped it off at the paper didn't bother calling the police because they didn't give a *** about her being on the video they wanted to let everyone know he was on video trust me they had time to take necessary action. So they are just as quilty too.
R. Kelly will be dealt with accordingly. I know my brothers, uncles would have beat that *** on sight no questions asked.
You can better believe there were serious plans to extort cash from him and if it true (which it very well may be) you can better believe her silence was not cheap nor was it a lone idea amongst her family
@Raemo Its not considered "rape"..Its considered "statutory rape" under law because no matter how "fast" a young girl under 17 (or 16) in some states are it still dont give the right of a grown fcukin man to fcuk them..
@Blackbarbie69
If these allegations are true, then you clearly must not have any young kids, cause I have a 13 year old daughter and i dont give a flyin fcuk who the fcuk you are it is a sad day when a woman is that much in love with a fcukin pedophile..its sick as a motherfcuker!!!
DONT REPRODUCE!!
The adult need to know the law and follow thru!
@ sweetness1 i am not in love with him, it more like utter obsession!
i am not on that jury and i am also not God so i will hold my judgement for r. kelly as well as my judgement for your angry ***!!!
i wont reproduce for fear that my child turns out like u!!!
and another thing; do u kiss your daughter with that "FCUKIN" mouth! u may want to clean up your language just a tad being that u have a 13 year old.
AHHHHHHH FUGGIN HAAAAAA, AHHHHHHH FUGGIN HAAAAAAA, CHICAGO STAND THE FUGG UP BEEYOTCHES!!! R. KELLY IS STILL THE KING OF R&B ***, LOL!!! LOL!!! I TOLD YOU MONKEY *** *** THAT MY N*GGA WASN'T GOING NO WHERE AND I'M GLAD BECAUSE NOW R&B IS STILL SAFE WITH A REAL N*GGA DOING IT. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CD TO DROP BECAUSE I KNOW HE GONNA LET SOME *** HAVE IT. YEA, *** MY N*GGA CAN INDEED FLY YOU HATIN *** N*GGAS. I BET ALL YOU *** FEEL STUPID FOR TRYING TO WISH SOMEBODY DOWNFALL, BUT TRY SOMEBODY ELSE BECAUSE R. KELLY IS FREE ***. HAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAA BEEYOTCH!!! I'M JUST PLAYIN YA'LL BUT I HAD TO DO THIS FOR SOME OF YA'LL WHO THOUGHT YA'LL HAD IT ALL FIGURED OUT, LOL!!!
R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.R-KELLY IS CLEARED ON ALL CHARGES.
black barbie for u to be okay with that grown man peeing on a little girl, that proves u aren't mature enough to have kids. that is why ur dumb behind doesn't need any kids. cuz if that was my daughter or any of my fam that would have been his A$$. fine or not (and he really isn't all that), having *** with young kids isn't cool. but you're just an ignorant chicken head anyway, so why am i debating this with u?
THE VERDICT IS IN. R KELLY NOT GUILTY! ONCE AGAIN, THE RICH GET OVER. STEVE WONDER COULD SEE THAT R KELLY WAS IN THAT VIDEO. YOU KNOW HE PAID THE JURY OFF. HE GOT AWAY WITH IT! JUST LIKE O.J. ALL I CAN SAY, IS YALL BETTER LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS 'CAUSE THIS PREDATOR IS LOOSE!
R. KELLY, YOU KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT. KARMA WILL CATCH UP WITH YOU. GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY.
also @geminiNOTAcutie
if i am a chicken head, i will be a R. Kelly supporting, R. Kelly cd buying, R. Kelly concert going to chicken head.
why are you so bitter. have you been peed on before or something? if you have... all jokes aside, Im sorry u didnt enjoy your golden shower!
but....
have you heard!!! he got found not guilty. if your bitter *** has not smiled all day, that right there is cause for celebration!
