The Hereford Times

Bid to halt R Kelly's trial denied

6:28pm Saturday 10th May 2008

A judge has ruled that jury selection can begin in singer R Kelly's long-delayed child pornography trial.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan denied a defence motion to again postpone the trial in which the Grammy-winning star is accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl on video. The trial has been delayed for six years.

Defence lawyer Marc Martin told the court the jury pool was "irrevocably poisoned" by an article in the Chicago Sun-Times citing unnamed sources talking about a potential witness.

But prosecutors contended it was premature to say the article affected potential jurors and that if any were tainted, they could be weeded out during the selection process.

Prosecutors will have to surmount several hurdles if they hope to succeed.

Chief among them is that the alleged victim, now 23, says it was not her. And Kelly's lawyers have not said it is Kelly in the video.

The 41-year-old Kelly, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The centrepiece of the trial is the video footage, which Judge Gaughan ruled may be shown in open court.

Prosecutors claim the videotape was made sometime between January 1 1998 and November 1 2000, and that the girl was born in September 1984. Kelly was indicted on pornography charges June 5 2002, after the tape surfaced.

Once the trial gets under way, it is expected to last at least several weeks.