CHICAGO — The verdict is in. On the second day of deliberation, the jury in R. Kelly's child-pornography trial has reached a decision: not guilty on all counts.
Kelly was indicted just over six years ago for videotaping himself engaged in sexual acts with a then-underage girl, his goddaughter. A copy of a videotape was delivered to the Chicago Sun-Times in February 2002, which reporter Jim DeRogatis then handed over to the police. Kelly denied he was the man on the tape, claiming it must be a forgery. The jury agreed, after hearing testimony and evidence that still left a reasonable doubt as to the identities of both parties on the tape.
Some of that doubt came from the questionable motives of the people who came forward to ID the people on the tape, including the girl's aunt Stephanie "Sparkle" Edwards, whom the singer's lawyers described as bitter over a bad business deal with the singer, and former Kelly mistress Lisa Van Allen, whom defense attorneys accused of attempting to extort $300,000 from them in order not to testify. Kelly's team said there had been a conspiracy afoot to create a fake sex tape, and these women were suspect.
Van Allen's testimony was especially scrutinized by the jury, who, on the first day of deliberations, asked for a complete transcript of what she said under direct and cross-examination.
For the last six years, Kelly's movements have been monitored by the court — any time he wanted to tour, shoot a music video or attend an awards show outside the jurisdiction, he had to seek permission and check in with a probation officer daily while out of town. He was also required to attend nearly every hearing held in this case.
Find a review of the major players in the R. Kelly trial here. For full coverage of the R. Kelly case, see the R. Kelly Reports and check out this complete timeline of the events leading up to the trial.
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