Glamsquad reports that R.Kelly is seeking to ban anyone who has seen the “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries from being a juror in his trial.
An attorney in the singer’s team filed a motion on Monday 15th August and asked the judge to disallow from the jury anyone who had seen “Surviving R. Kelly,” a six-part Lifetime documentary, calling it “inflammatory” as his 2nd federal trial begins in Chicago.
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The court document obtained by TMZ read;
“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.
“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.”
However, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber for the Northern District of Illinois denied the request, saying that the series aired years ago and that it wouldn’t make sense to prohibit someone from serving if they’d seen only part of the series.
Glamsquad recalls that “Surviving R. Kelly” aired in 2019 and chronicled decades of Kelly’s alleged sexual misconduct was exposed. The documentary contained more than 50 interviews and included testimony from women who accused Kelly of mental, physical and sexual abuse.
According to juror questionnaires, nine people indicated they had watched at least some of the docuseries and 70 indicated they had not.
The judge’s ruling came on 15th August, the first day of jury selection in a case that stems from the complaints of several women who allege that Kelly, 55, lured them into sex acts while they were underage. At least two are expected to testify, according to court documents.
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Jury selection is expected to conclude on Tuesday, 16th August with the group of prospective jurors whittled down to 12 jurors and six alternates.
In addition to being asked if they had ever watched the docuseries and how much of it they had seen, jurors on Monday also were asked if they were familiar with the #MeToo movement and if they had been or knew someone who had been a victim of sexual abuse.
The federal trial in Chicago comes two months after the disgraced R&B singer was convicted and handed a 30-year prison sentence in New York on charges of federal racketeering and sex trafficking.
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