The most notorious trial in Chicago’s Cook County Criminal Courthouse since serial killer John Wayne Gacy opens today.
The defendant: R&B superstar R. Kelly.
The case stems from an alleged VHS tape of Kelly in a three-way sex fest with one of the participants being a 13 year-old girl. The tape was sent anonymously to a music critic at a Chicago Sun-Times who turned it over to the FBI.
Bootlegs of the tape sell for $10 on the streets of Chicago.
But prosecution has a big problem. The under age girl in question says that isn’t her on the tape. And has repeatedly denied it.
Grammy winner Kelly (“I Believe I Can Fly”) who grew up on the South Side of Chicago has pleaded “not guilty” and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Kelly was busted on similar charges in 2003 when a video camera containing pornographic images of minors was found in a house Kelly had rented in Florida. The charges were later dropped.
Despite a key witness who denies involvement, Judge Vincent Gaughan is determined not to let the trial become a media circus. Too late.
Judge Gaughan warned reporters about sticking gum under the court seats and then held up a plastic bag containing the “evidence.”
Beyond a reasonable doubt, indeed.
