R. Kelly has spent more than a year in a Chicago jail awaiting his trial on child pornography and obstruction of justice charges. In addition to that, he’s also waiting on a separate trial for sex trafficking and racketeering charges from a case in Brooklyn, New York. According to AP, it looks like the latter of these two trials will commence this summer as a federal judge gave the green light to have the singer moved to New York in order for it to begin this summer.
The trial for the sex trafficking and racketeering charges was initially supposed to commence in July 2020, but was delayed to April 7, where it was once again pushed back to August 9. During a recent virtual hearing, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly informed lawyers that courthouse protections were in place to ensure that trial would finally begin this summer. While the date for the move is unknown yet, the singer will most likely be moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn later this year.
The singer’s trial will be tried in front of an anonymous jury as Judge Donnelly approved a motion for it at the end of last year. “Empaneling an anonymous jury is appropriate given the seriousness of the charges, the defendant’s history of obstructing the judicial process, the potential for juror intimidation and the intensity of media attention given to this case,” she said. As for Kelly’s child pornography and obstruction trial in Chicago, that is set to begin on September 13.