R. Kelly, Still no Trial
Teenager — but there still hasn't been a trial.
Michael Jackson's trial has long begun and ended since Kelly's indictment and according to legal observers, Kelly's trial should have been finished years ago.
"Five years is a long time," said Michael Helfand, a Chicago attorney with no connection to Kelly's case. "Most child pornography cases find themselves in a courtroom within a year or two."
Suspects have a right to demand a swift trial, however they're not obliged to ask for one — especially if they calculate that speed isn't in their best interests. Kelly's lawyer's may figure that the delays have worked in their client's favor, and not only because they've given him the chance to keep working and make millions, according to sources.
"You may have a jury that's going to come in and say, 'So this happened in the 1990s and this is 2007? I'm just not buying it,'" Helfand said.
Messages left for Kelly's attorney's were not returned, and prosecutors declined to comment.
Kelly spokesman Allan Mayer says he was told the trial could get under way early this summer. "But," he added, "I've been told 'early in the summer' for the past three years now."
R. Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly was charged in 2002 after the tape was leaked to the media and bootlegged copies hit the streets nationwide. Authorities said the girl on the tape was as young as 13 when it was made. The superstar pleaded not guilty, and has said he intends to survive his legal tribulations.
"I'm going through my own struggle … and you're either gonna fold or you're going to stand," he told The Associated Press in 2005, "and I believe in standing."
A conviction could send Kelly to prison for up to 15 years.
