U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly of the federal
court in Brooklyn said at a hearing conducted by telephone that
potential jurors would be summoned to fill out written
questionnaires on Sept. 14.
Kelly filed a motion asking to be released on bail, citing
multiple confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Chicago jail
where he is being held. Donnelly did not rule on the motion at
the hearing, and noted that a judge overseeing a separate
federal case against Kelly in Chicago would also have to sign
off on any release.
Known for such hits as "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Bump N'
Grind," Kelly, 53, has faced sexual abuse allegations dating
back more than two decades, including accounts from some
accusers in the January 2019 Lifetime documentary "Surviving R.
Kelly."
He has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges in several
cases filed in New York, Illinois, and Minnesota last year.
The Brooklyn prosecutors have accused Kelly of running a
criminal scheme in which women and underage girls were recruited
to have sexual activity with him.
They also charged Kelly with bribing an Illinois official in
August 1994 to obtain a fake identification for the singer
Aaliyah so they could get married.
Kelly was then 27 and Aaliyah was 15, but according to published
reports their marriage license listed Aaliyah's age as 18. The
marriage was annulled in 1995. Aaliyah died at age 22 in a 2001
plane crash in the Bahamas.
Federal prosecutors in the Chicago case charged Kelly last July
with engaging in sex acts with five minors, recording some of
his alleged abuse on video, and using threats to keep victims
quiet. A trial in that case is scheduled for October.
Kelly was also charged last February by Illinois state
prosecutors with aggravated sexual abuse, and last August by
Minnesota state prosecutors with soliciting sex from a minor.
In 2008, Kelly was acquitted at trial on state child pornography
charges in Illinois.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Grant
McCool)
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