The trial of American singer-songwriter and record producer R. Kelly is about to take its first major step forward after several delays have delayed the process. According to Fox News, attorneys for the R&B hitmaker’s case will begin jury selection in New York on Monday, two years after being accused of abusing women and girls for nearly 20 years, his career allegedly having him. protected from the consequences.

A Brooklyn Federal Court judge will ask would-be jurors if they can keep an open mind about Kelly amid a massive public scrutiny brought about in large part by the #MeToo movement as well as a documentary series that has brought to light the singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, and his alleged illegal activities. The proceedings will take place amid coronavirus pandemic precautions restricting the press and the public from overflowing courtrooms with video streams.

Kelly has been locked up since his charge in 2019, mostly housed in a federal prison in Chicago. He was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn last month to stand trial in a case that has further tarnished his reputation as a singer. The case made his name more synonymous with the alleged crimes exposed in the documentary and subsequent court proceedings.

It seems the last two years behind bars have taken their toll on Kelly both physically and financially. Last week, defense attorney Devereaux Cannick told a judge Kelly had to be measured for new clothes because he had gained so much weight in prison. He even demanded that court transcripts be provided free of charge because Kelly hasn’t been able to work for two years, stating: “His funds are exhausted.”

The Grammy-winning, multi-platinum singer has denied any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to charges of running a company of managers, bodyguards and other employees who helped him recruit women and girls for sexual purposes. Federal prosecutors said the group selected the victims at concerts and other venues and arranged for them to come to see Kelly.

Defense attorneys said Kelly’s alleged victims were groupies who showed up to his shows and said they were “dying to be with him.” They didn’t start accusing him of abuse until years later when public opinion shifted in the #MeToo era, they said.

The trial was due to start earlier this year. But opening statements were postponed until August 18 after Kelly sacked his original defense team. Jurors are expected to hear testimony from several of his accusers. A judge has ruled that women will only be designated by their first name.

Prosecutors said the jury would also hear evidence that Kelly had conspired with others to pay for a fake ID for Aaliyah, a booming singer at age 15, in a secret ceremony in 1994. In the court documents, Aaliyah was identified as ‘Jane Doe # 1’ because she was still underage when Kelly started sex with her and believed she had become pregnant.

As a result, in an effort to protect herself from criminal charges related to her illegal sex with Jane Doe # 1, Kelly arranged to marry him secretly to prevent her from being forced to testify against him at the future, ”the newspapers reveal. . Aaliyah, whose full name was Aaliyah Dana Haughton, worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her 1994 debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number”. She died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22.

This case is only a small part of the peril facing the singer. According to Fox News, he also did not plead guilty to sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota. The singer has won multiple Grammys for “I Believe I Can Fly,” a 1996 song that has become an inspiring anthem played at graduations, weddings, commercials and elsewhere.

Almost a decade later, he began releasing what eventually became 22 musical chapters of “Trapped in the Closet,” a drama that tells a story of sexual deception and has become a cult classic. But Kelly has been dragged for decades by complaints and allegations about his sexual behavior, including a child pornography case in Chicago in 2002. He was acquitted in that case in 2008. (ANI)

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)