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Just a few random updates -
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R. Kelly will not testify in his sex-crimes trial
By Ben Feuerherd - September 22, 2021 11:49am - Updated
Disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly will not testify in his own defense, he said in court Wednesday, as his racketeering and sex-crimes trial in federal court in Brooklyn nears an end.
After dismissing the jury for a break Wednesday morning, Judge Ann Donnelly asked Kelly if he did not wish to take the witness stand, and the singer responded affirmatively.
“Yes ma’am,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, the jury heard from what may be the last defense witness of the trial, music consultant Julius Darrington, who worked with Kelly for several years prior to his arrest.
Darrington testified he did not see Kelly abuse women while he worked with him in his Chicago studio and while they traveled across the country for shows — but said during cross-examination that he had no knowledge of what the “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner did while he was not with him.
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R. Kelly will not testify in his sex-crimes trial
After dismissing the jury for a break, Judge Ann Donnelly asked R. Kelly if he did not wish to take the witness stand, and the singer responded affirmatively.
Even if he is acquitted in New York, R. Kelly will face more charges elsewhere.
By Rebecca Davis O’Brien - Sept. 22, 2021 - Updated 2:48 p.m. ET
No matter the outcome of his federal trial in Brooklyn, R. Kelly still faces state and federal indictments in two other states, all stemming from what prosecutors describe as the R&B star’s sexual abuse of women and underage girls.
Federal prosecutors in Chicago hit Mr. Kelly in July 2019 with child pornography and obstruction charges. That trial has been pushed back several times because of the pandemic, and to allow Mr. Kelly’s Brooklyn trial to go first.
In February 2019, months before federal charges were announced, the Cook County state’s attorney indicted Mr. Kelly on aggravated criminal sexual abuse charges involving four victims, three of whom were underage at the time. Mr. Kelly has denied the allegations.
The state trial, a date for which has not been set, would be Mr. Kelly’s second criminal trial in Cook County — in 2008, he was acquitted on 14 counts of child pornography charges.
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Even if he is acquitted in New York, R. Kelly will face more charges elsewhere.
Mr. Kelly faces federal child pornography charges in Chicago, sex abuse charges in Cook County, Ill. and a child prostitution charge in Minneapolis.

