R. Kelly is currently serving two sentences of 30 years and 20 years in prison.
R. Kelly’s lawyers are asking for a new trial or the outright quashing of the conviction.
An unprecedented reversal of the situation is underway in the legal case concerning R. Kelly. The RnB singer’s lawyers have officially lodged an appeal in his New York sex crimes case, believing he was wrongly convicted. The latter believe that the legal decision to convict him of nine federal counts of RICO (Organization Influenced by Racketeering and Corruption) and misdemeanor sexual misconduct as well as human trafficking in 2021 should be overturned.according to legal documents obtained by TMZ Wednesday, unveiled April 19, 2023.
His lawyers claim that the judge failed to meet the ‘burden of proof’ necessary to sentence him to 30 years in prison. R. Kelly also aired his grievances about the selection of the jury and the evidence that may have been used against him in the courtroom, which he says prevented him from having a fair trial.
They claim that four jurors prejudged R. Kelly’s guilt and that two of them should not have been selected since they watched the documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly”, broadcast on Lifetime. Responses to the charges also include claims that the women allegedly groomed were adults at the time of their relationship with Kelly and that some lied about their age, so he did not know if they were younger than he had stated. Regarding the evidence, R Kelly’s team of lawyers, led by Jennifer Bonjean, believe that information such as his bedroom activity, sexual preferences and history of STDs should not have been taken into account in the case.
R. Kelly and his attorneys are asking for at least a new trial or the outright quashing of the conviction. He is currently serving a 30-year sentence in this case.
As a reminder, this case is separate from the second federal sexual assault case in which R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Illinois judge in February 2023. A grand jury had convicted the Chicago native on six of thirteen federal counts, including three for child pornography, for sexually abusing four girls, three of whom were minors. The jury also recognized the artist guilty of making three videos of him sexually assaulting his 14-year-old goddaughter, which resulted in three other counts of making sex videos with an underage person. In addition, the interpreter of the title “I Believe I Can Fly” was ordered to pay one of the victims $42,000 in compensation to cover his therapy costs.
