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R&B superstar
R.Kelly was acquitted yesterday by a Cook
County jury on all 14
counts of child pornography charges, putting an end to the high-profile case
which started six years ago.
During the trial, 14
witnesses brought in by the prosecution positively identified the girl in the
film, while more than 8 witnesses considered that R.Kelly was without a doubt
present in the movie. The singer was facing 15 years in prison and the jury waited
to make sure that all aspects on the issue are carefully considered before
reaching a decision.
The testimony of the
prosecution’s star witness, Ms. Van Allen, the woman who claimed that she took
part in the sex acts with the singer and the underage girl, was considered
doubtful and was overlooked by the jury, especially because the alleged victim
and her family denied that she was the one caught on tape.
After about seven
hours of deliberations between the jury’s nine men and three women, the initial
vote result showed 10 jurors in favour of acquittal and 2 against it.
When he heard the
results, Robert Sylvester Kelly embraced
his four attorneys and repeated several times "Thank you, Jesus," as
one of his lawyers, Sam Adam Jr. told the Associated Press.
The singer left the
courtroom without any statement, but one of his representatives stated that the
Kelly is ready to move on with his life and put the disturbing incident behind
him.
R.Kelly was born in
1969 in Chicago
and managed to have a world wide successful career as a singer, producer,
instrumentalist and songwriter. He collaborated with some of the industry’s
biggest stars such as Jay-Z and Diddy and some of his biggest hits include
Satisfy You, Fiesta, Down Low, I Believe I Can Fly and Ignition.
He recently released a
new single Hair Braider and a new album is also expected later this year.
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