(The Slice): The criminal trial of singer R. Kelly began this week and he is armed with a pair of new lawyers. Kelly has been in headlines on mulitple sexual misconduct charges involving sex with minors since the 1990s. He is currently being tried for federal racketeering and sex abuse in Brooklyn, NY.
Information about the lifestyle fo the singer and the harem of younger women (often teens) that he kept around is well known at this point. Kelly's preference for young girls gained credibility from his marraige to the late singer Aliyah when she was underage. Several of his accuers shared damining stories of their interations with him in the documentary "Surviving R. Kelly." SOme fans have remained loyal to the "Step in the Nake of Love" singer, while he has lost many supporters over the child molestation clainms.
One of the accusers, "Jane Doe Number 4"," who has spoken out in court against Kelly, 54 in the past, testified that she lied about her age, telling the artist that she was 19 when she was really 16 at the time. She claimed that he raped her and took her virginity after he found out she lied about her age. She got involedd in a relationship with him and later introduced him to one her her friends but stayed becasue she was under his control. Her tesitmony lends itself to the Prosecution painting Kelly as a predator. The defense is arguing that Kelly was a victim of people who knew what they were foing and took advantage of his celebrity status. They will strive to show that the relationships were consentual and the accusers were after his money and fame.
There has been some strain among the singer's legal team in the months ahead of this case. R. Kelly is being represented by two new attorneys, Nicole Black Becker and Thomas Ferinalla. Two l of the suspect's long-term attorneys Steve Greenberg and Micahel Leornard, withdrew in the summer according to a statement. "Our reasons for withdrawal are significant and it is impossible, in our belief, for us to be able to continue to properly represent Mr. Kelly under the current circumstances,” Greenberg wrote in a letter to the judge."Becker claims they were fired.
On Thurday, the testimony of Kelly physican for the past 25 years got personal. The doctor revealed that Kelly has had herpes since 2007. This detail supports the prosecutions claims that he knowingly spread the desease to his sex partners. But, Kelly's lawyers are pushing to have this charge dropped. Per TMZ, they are arguing that "herpes doesn’t meet the definition of a sexually transmitted infection as laid out by the New York State Department of Health."
He faces up to 10 years in prison in this case, one of several federal cases.
In separate cases the R&B legend also facec federal child pornography and obstruction charges in the Northern District of Illinois, and faces state charges there for multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Adding to this mountain of charges Pr Kely also has to fight charges that the molested a 17-year-old boy he met at a Chicago McDonalds.
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