Content Warning: This article about R. Kelly discusses sexual abuse and domestic violence. If you or someone you know is affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
Lawyers for R. Kelly have requested for his sex trafficking trial to be postponed on account of his jail quarantine.
Rapper R. Kelly’s lawyers have requested for his sex trafficking trial to be postponed on account of his required jail quarantine. According to R. Kelly’s legal team, the mandatory quarantine has set back their preparations for the trial.
The disgraced rapper’s trial is set to begin in August. Late last month, he was moved from a Chicago facility to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. According to a report by the Associated Press, lawyer Deveraux Cannick requested U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly that Kelly’s compulsory quarantine — ending on Tuesday — post his move has rendered them inadequately prepared for the upcoming proceedings.
Cannick reiterates in his letter that the request is not a delay tactic: “Robert is anxious to have his day in court; however not at the expense of his Sixth Amendment rights.”
Cannick also argues that once his quarantine ends, Kelly and his legal team will have to make-do with the limited amount of conference rooms available in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. In cases where they cannot secure one, he argues against meetings in common spaces near other inmates.
“The nature of the evidence here does not lend itself to open frank discussions in such an environment.” he writes.
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As of now, there has no been ruling on the filing and no comment from the authorities.
The release of the controversial 2019 documentary Surviving R. Kelly led to renewed interest in the rapper’s history, following which he was investigated and arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He was later also charged with bribing a judge for a fake ID so he could marry Aaliyah, who at the time was only 15.
In early June, two attorneys from R. Kelly’s legal team requested to withdraw from the case, citing differences in opinion.
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