R. Kelly defies court, tells judge he will not testify in his ongoing child pornography trial

singer R. Kelly A federal judge was told Thursday that he will not testify at his ongoing trial in Chicago On charges accusing him of child pornography, soliciting minors to have sex, and installing his trial in 2008.

The judge raised the case before lawyers for Kelly and two of the other defendants began calling the first witnesses, in an effort to respond to two weeks of government testimony, including from four women who accused Kelly of sexual assault.

to treat Grammy Award– Won straight Thursday, Judge Harry Lennenweber asked if he had discussed with his lawyer whether he would testify. Kelly, 55, replied that he had. When asked if he would testify, Kelly said he would not testify.

Co-defendant Deryl McDavid, Kelly’s longtime manager, is accused of helping Kelly rig the 2008 trial. McDavid said he would testify. Co-defendant Milton Brown is accused of receiving child pornography. Like Kelly, he said he wouldn’t testify.

Taking the position of a witness is always risky, including because it exposes the defendant to questioning. There is always a chance that the defendant will obliterate an incriminating order under a difficult questioning.

Lennenweber on Thursday also rejected a plea for an acquittal, a common but rarely granted request for an acquittal before a jury has decided on the case. Linneweber said prosecutors had presented enough evidence to leave the question of guilt to the jury.

McDavid’s legal team called its first defense witness Thursday, McDavid’s friend and former police officer Christopher J. Wilson. He testified that McDavid told him in 2001 that someone was trying to blackmail Kelly with threats about the videos.

A New York federal judge sentenced Kelly in June to 30 years in prison

A New York federal judge sentenced Kelly in June to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. A conviction of just one or two counts in the Chicago trial can add years to that sentence.

The highlight of the plaintiffs’ case came two weeks ago with the testimony of a 37-year-old woman who used the pseudonym “Jane”. Kelly described having sexually assaulted her hundreds of times starting in 1998 when she was 14 and Kelly was 30.

Federal prosecutors rested their case on Tuesday. Closing arguments are expected to take place in the middle of next week.

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