After being sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking and racketeering back in June, R. Kelly is heading back to a Chicago court on charges of child porn and obstruction of justice.
This time around, he's hoping to ban anyone who has seen the documentary Surviving R. Kelly from the jury. Kelly's legal team filed a motion this morning arguing that anyone who has seen any part of the 2019 docuseries cannot be impartial and should not act as a juror on the trial.
"Any potential juror who has watched any portion of this docuseries must be disqualified for cause on whether they can be fair, too great a risk exists that such a juror would base their verdict on matters not introduced into evidence in the courtroom," read court documents obtained by TMZ.
"Any potential juror who has seen any portion of Surviving R. Kelly is prejudiced where there's no scenario which an individual exposed to the contents of Surviving R. Kelly can be impartial," the documents continue.
Kelly's lawyers claim the docuseries — which details multiple allegations of sexual assault against the R&B singer — discusses his 2008 prosecution in which he was acquitted, and argue that this would contribute to an unfair trial. It's important to note that the alleged victim from the 2008 case is expected to testify.
This new trial was originally set to begin in April, but was rescheduled. Jury selection is set to begin Monday.
This time around, he's hoping to ban anyone who has seen the documentary Surviving R. Kelly from the jury. Kelly's legal team filed a motion this morning arguing that anyone who has seen any part of the 2019 docuseries cannot be impartial and should not act as a juror on the trial.
"Any potential juror who has watched any portion of this docuseries must be disqualified for cause on whether they can be fair, too great a risk exists that such a juror would base their verdict on matters not introduced into evidence in the courtroom," read court documents obtained by TMZ.
"Any potential juror who has seen any portion of Surviving R. Kelly is prejudiced where there's no scenario which an individual exposed to the contents of Surviving R. Kelly can be impartial," the documents continue.
Kelly's lawyers claim the docuseries — which details multiple allegations of sexual assault against the R&B singer — discusses his 2008 prosecution in which he was acquitted, and argue that this would contribute to an unfair trial. It's important to note that the alleged victim from the 2008 case is expected to testify.
This new trial was originally set to begin in April, but was rescheduled. Jury selection is set to begin Monday.
