Courts
A second alleged victim who claimed R. Kelly sexually abused her while she was a minor in the 1990s, told jurors Monday that she lied during an investigation into the R&B superstar’s past child pornography allegations to conceal her own involvement with him.
The filing from the department follows a judge’s weekend order indicating that she was inclined to grant the Trump legal team’s request for a special master who would oversee the review of documents taken during the Aug. 8 search of the Mar-a-Lago estate.
Prosecution witness Lisa Van Allen said she rummaged through a gym bag full of recordings of Kelly having sex with women and girls on a rare occasion when Kelly left it unattended at a studio one day in 2000.
The directive from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart came hours after federal law enforcement officials submitted under seal the portions of the affidavit that they want to keep secret as their investigation moves forward. The judge set a deadline of noon Friday for a redacted, or blacked-out, version of the document.
Terran McKethan has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and indecent solicitation stemming from the Aug. 17 incident at the Cermak Fresh Market in the 6600 block of North Damen Avenue. He’s also been accused in another incident near that same store.
Defense lawyers at R. Kelly’s child pornography trial in Chicago sought Wednesday to portray a key government witness as a liar and extortionist, contending the man first approached the R&B star in 2001 and demanded that Kelly pay $1 million or he’d go public with video that could put Kelly in serious legal peril.
Charles Freeman, who had worked for Kelly as a merchandiser in the 1990s, testified that he asked R. Kelly and his associates for $1 million to recover an illicit sex tape in the early 2000s.
Karol Chwiesiuk, a Chicago Police officer, is set to stand trial for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection nearly two years after he was charged.
A jury on Tuesday convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a swift victory for prosecutors in a foiled plot that was described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists.
When attempting to access any of the specific courtrooms, users will now find live videos replaced with the following message from YouTube: “This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations.”
The woman — now 37 and identified in court only under the pseudonym “Jane” — is one of the main witnesses at the center of the government’s latest case against Kelly. She was allegedly the 14-year-old girl who later appeared in child pornography videos Kelly allegedly produced.
The plea bargain also requires Allen Weisselberg to testify truthfully as a prosecution witness when the Trump Organization goes on trial in October on related charges. The company is accused of helping Weisselberg and other executives avoid income taxes by failing to report their full compensation.
Opening statements got underway at the Dirksen Federal Building on Wednesday in R. Kelly’s second federal trial, where he stands accused of multiple child pornography-related charges, as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice and enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Jury selection in R. Kelly’s trial began Monday inside a 25th-floor courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Building, where the 55-year-old Chicago native stands accused of multiple child pornography-related charges, as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice and enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Jury selection begins Monday morning at the Dirksen Federal Building downtown, where the 55-year-old Chicago native will stand trial, nearly a year after a New York jury convicted him of sex trafficking and other charges.
Websites and crowdfunding platforms have been set up to collect donations for Capitol riot defendants who try to portray them as mistreated patriots or even political prisoners.