CHICAGO — The verdict is in. On the second day of deliberation, the jury in R. Kelly's child-pornography trial has reached a decision: not guilty on all counts.
Kelly was indicted just over six years ago for videotaping himself engaged in sexual acts with a then-underage girl, his goddaughter. A copy of a videotape was delivered to the Chicago Sun-Times in February 2002, which reporter Jim DeRogatis then handed over to the police. Kelly denied he was the man on the tape, claiming it must be a forgery. The jury agreed, after hearing testimony and evidence that still left a reasonable doubt as to the identities of both parties on the tape.
Some of that doubt came from the questionable motives of the people who came forward to ID the people on the tape, including the girl's aunt Stephanie "Sparkle" Edwards, whom the singer's lawyers described as bitter over a bad business deal with the singer, and former Kelly mistress Lisa Van Allen, whom defense attorneys accused of attempting to extort $300,000 from them in order not to testify. Kelly's team said there had been a conspiracy afoot to create a fake sex tape, and these women were suspect.
Van Allen's testimony was especially scrutinized by the jury, who, on the first day of deliberations, asked for a complete transcript of what she said under direct and cross-examination.
For the last six years, Kelly's movements have been monitored by the court — any time he wanted to tour, shoot a music video or attend an awards show outside the jurisdiction, he had to seek permission and check in with a probation officer daily while out of town. He was also required to attend nearly every hearing held in this case.
Kelly was indicted just over six years ago for videotaping himself engaged in sexual acts with a then-underage girl, his goddaughter. A copy of a videotape was delivered to the Chicago Sun-Times in February 2002, which reporter Jim DeRogatis then handed over to the police. Kelly denied he was the man on the tape, claiming it must be a forgery. The jury agreed, after hearing testimony and evidence that still left a reasonable doubt as to the identities of both parties on the tape.
Some of that doubt came from the questionable motives of the people who came forward to ID the people on the tape, including the girl's aunt Stephanie "Sparkle" Edwards, whom the singer's lawyers described as bitter over a bad business deal with the singer, and former Kelly mistress Lisa Van Allen, whom defense attorneys accused of attempting to extort $300,000 from them in order not to testify. Kelly's team said there had been a conspiracy afoot to create a fake sex tape, and these women were suspect.
Van Allen's testimony was especially scrutinized by the jury, who, on the first day of deliberations, asked for a complete transcript of what she said under direct and cross-examination.
For the last six years, Kelly's movements have been monitored by the court — any time he wanted to tour, shoot a music video or attend an awards show outside the jurisdiction, he had to seek permission and check in with a probation officer daily while out of town. He was also required to attend nearly every hearing held in this case.
This shit stinks to high heaven.
The funny thing is I remember a few years ago (really several considering it's 2008) when this shit was causing some rumblings I remember Ron Isley on 106 & Park talking about R.Kelly and proclaiming his innocence and riding out for the nigar and such. You never would have guessed when it was all said and done Isley would end up in prison before R.Kelly and become a convict and Kelly would be the free man today.
Isley in jail for tax evasion I think but the moral is quote clear: You can piss on all the little blackies you want. Do as you please with their children. They're soulless animals. But if you fuck with Uncle Sam's paper you're going down and going down hard. Uncle Sam ain't letting shit skate. Nigga might as well be Wayne Brady in that Chappelle skit when that one ho was coming up short with the funds.
The funny thing is I remember a few years ago (really several considering it's 2008) when this shit was causing some rumblings I remember Ron Isley on 106 & Park talking about R.Kelly and proclaiming his innocence and riding out for the nigar and such. You never would have guessed when it was all said and done Isley would end up in prison before R.Kelly and become a convict and Kelly would be the free man today.
Isley in jail for tax evasion I think but the moral is quote clear: You can piss on all the little blackies you want. Do as you please with their children. They're soulless animals. But if you fuck with Uncle Sam's paper you're going down and going down hard. Uncle Sam ain't letting shit skate. Nigga might as well be Wayne Brady in that Chappelle skit when that one ho was coming up short with the funds.
No comments:
Post a Comment