As R Kelly approaches the end of his racketeering and sex trafficking trial in New York, jurors have been left with very opposing arguments.
As reported by The New York Times, jurors are now set to deliberate today, however despite the outcome, he is still up for more charges in other states.
Over the course of six weeks, there have been 50 witnesses who have taken the stand, many of whom had never spoken publicly about the accusations against R Kelly before.
Making one final case in defence of the artist, Kelly’s lead lawyer, Deveraux Cannick asked “where’s the crime?” in all of his behaviour.
“So he became a sex symbol, he became a playboy,” Cannick said.
“Where’s the crime in that? Some people just like kinky sex — not a crime.”
He then referenced all of his accusers, “They are in relationships,” he said. “This is just like you taking your girlfriend, your wife, your husband on business.”
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Cannick continued, “They might not be the couple, the type of relationship that you endorse, but they all bought into it and they’re all consenting adults.”
However this argument wasn’t made without a rebuttal to follow it up by an assistant U.S. attorney, Nadia Shihata.
Shihata said, “It’s as if we took a time machine and went back to a courthouse in the 1950s.”
“What they’re basically insinuating is that all of these women and girls were asking for it and they deserved what they got.”
Once this trial comes to a close, he is due for another in Chicago where he is set to face his third criminal trial on charges of child pornography and obstruction.
He also faces more state charges in Minnesota and Illinois.
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