R.Kelly Begs Judge To Postpone Sex Trafficking Trial

R. Kelly’s Attorney Asks Judge to Postpone NYC Sex Trafficking Trial Over Jail Quarantine

Jul 6, 2021 - 17:52 Updated: Jul 6, 2021 - 20:50

R. Kelly

R. Kelly’s legal team want a judge to delay the disgraced singer’s sex trafficking trial, which is currently set to begin in August.

As the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, lawyer Deveraux Cannick sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly arguing that the singer’s required jail quarantine—which ends on Tuesday—has prevented them from being able to prepare for trial. Late last month, Kelly was moved from a facility in Chicago to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Cannick has argued that his client is “anxious” to have his day in court but not “at the expense of his Sixth Amendment rights.” He’s also argued that—after the mandatory quarantine ends—Kelly and his legal team will be forced to conduct business using one of a limited amount of jail conference rooms. If no such space is available when needed, Cannick said, they’ll be required to hold meetings near other inmates and attorneys.

At the time of this writing, prosecutors had not responded to Cannick’s letter. Donnelly had also not ruled on the request.

In April, Donnelly gave the go-ahead to have Kelly transported to New York City for the trial. Meanwhile, in Chicago, Kelly was being held on similar charges prior to the New York move and—as of last December—was expected to go to trial for those allegations this September. And in June, two lead attorneys who had been working with Kelly requested to withdraw from the singer’s federal case in Brooklyn.

While Kelly has been accused of sexual abuse since the 1990s, including allegations involving underage girls, the public interest in allegations was boosted in 2019 thanks to the release of the Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly.

Kelly has denied the allegations. Meanwhile, a Kelly associate pleaded guilty to bribing a witness not to testify in February of this year. Another Kelly associate pleaded guilty on a count of arson in April in connection with destroying an SUV that was rented by the father of one of his accusers.

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