The jurors must consider 13 separate counts, some involving complex law and assessments of which witnesses were more believable.

They began deliberating on Tuesday September 13, after Judge Harry Leinenweber gave them jury instructions, including explicit descriptions of what constitutes sexual abuse.

Before they withdrew on Tuesday, Kelly attorney Jennifer Bonjean sounded indignant, likening government testimony and evidence to a cockroach and the government’s case to a bowl of soup.

If a cockroach falls into soup, she said, ‘you don’t just pull out the cockroach and eat the rest of the soup. You throw out the whole soup,’ said told jurors. She said of the prosecution’s case: ‘There are just too many cockroaches.’

The 55-year-old R&B singer is already serving a 30-year prison sentence after he was found guilty last year in New York City on charges of federal racketeering and sex trafficking.

In her rebuttal Tuesday, prosecutor Jeannice Appenteng told jurors to remember the girls and women Kelly allegedly abused.

‘When you are in the quiet of the jury room, consider the evidence in light of who is at the center of this case. Kelly’s victims: Jane, Nia, Pauline, Tracy and Brittany,’ Appenteng said, referring to five Kelly accusers named in charging documents by their pseudonyms or first names.

She said as Kelly’s fame boomed in the mid-1990s, his inner circle increasingly geared everything they did to what Kelly wanted.

‘And ladies and gentlemen, what R. Kelly wanted was to have sex with young girls,’ she said.

Bonjean described Kelly as a flawed genius who has been functional illiterate since childhood and was ill-equipped to navigate his celebrity and expanding wealth. She said having been abused as a child also deeply affected him.

Widespread outrage emerged after the #MeToo reckoning and the 2019 Lifetime docuseries ‘Surviving R. Kelly.’

The musician and his co-defendant Derrell McDavid, Kelly’s ex-business manager, are accused of fixing Kelly’s 2008 trial on state child porn charges by intimidating and paying off witnesses.

Kelly faces four counts of producing child porn, one of conspiring to obstruct justice by fixing the 2008 trial, one of conspiring to receive child porn, two of actually receiving it and five of enticing minors for sex.

McDavid is charged with four counts; two for receiving child porn, one for conspiring to do so, and one for conspiring to obstruct justice by rigging the 2008 trial, at which Kelly was acquitted.

Co-defendant Milton Brown, a former Kelly associate, faces a single count of conspiring to receive child pornography.

The second day of the trial comes after a juror suffered a panic attack on Monday while hearing graphic closing arguments in the case.

The white woman who works for a public library said she couldn’t bear to hear ‘one minute more’ and was excused by the judge at Dirksen Courthouse in Chicago.

Judge Leinenweber replaced Juror number 44 with Juror 83, a white man.

Kelly, who has denied the current charges, was acquitted in the 2008 case after a key witness refused to testify at the trial. Jurors at the time said that made it difficult for them to convict Kelly.

TMZ reported that prosecutors said Kelly is especially menacing to society because he continued his criminal behavior for years after standing trial in Chicago for sex crimes.

Following the disclosure, the Judge ordered that Kelly must inform anyone choosing to live with him that he is a sex offender.

The Judge, Ann M. Donnelly also ordered mental health treatment for the singer upon his release. According to court documents, his treatment will include therapy for an unspecified sexual disorder, and he must avoid all contact with anyone under 18.

It was also gathered that the only way he’ll be allowed to be around someone under 18 is if it’s a family member, or it’s in a therapeutic setting with a “responsible adult” present.

All of the above scenarios would first have to be approved by his probation officer. Kelly will remain under supervised release for 5 years once he gets out.

The disgraced singer still has another federal trial and 2 state trials to face, and if he’s convicted again, he’ll likely face even more restrictions

Chicago Tribune reported that Jennifer Bonjean, a New York-based lawyer, filed her appearance in the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer’s case in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn where the musician was convicted on sex abuse and racketeering charges last month.

Bonjean told the outlet that she plans to lead Kelly’s appeal and post-conviction motions, which are due on Monday (Nov. 1). However, she has requested a two-month extension.

Recall Bonjean spearheaded Cosby’s appeal of his sex crimes conviction in Pennsylvania and helped get the actor released from prison.

The attorney told the Chicago Tribune that she is “looking forward to getting familiar with the record” in the Chicago native’s case, which was driven by Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges.

“I am becoming increasingly concerned with how the government is abusing the RICO statute in order to plead around the statute of limitations and essentially put people’s entire lives on trial,” Bonjean said. “It’s becoming a formula for the government. You have a right to defend yourself against specific allegations.”

Kelly was convicted of one count of racketeering, with 14 underlying acts that included sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, kidnapping and sex trafficking charges last month.  He was also convicted of eight counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law that makes it illegal to move anyone across state lines “for any immoral purpose.”

Kelly’s sentencing is set for May 4, 2022, where he potentially faces 10 years to life in prison.

Last week, a Chicago judge set the date for the child pornography trial that he is facing in his home state. The disgraced singer was accused of recording his sexual encounters with multiple underage girls and bribing possible witnesses with cash and gifts to remain silent about his crimes. He is set to stand trial for those federal sex charges next August.

The singer was found guilty of racketeering in a high-profile sex-trafficking case after being trailed by accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse for a long time.

Kelly was given the honour back in February 2013 by Denise Marcelle, who, at the time, was a member of Baton Rouge Metro Council. Marcelle has expressed her regrets and now rescinded it.

Though there were allegations against the singer when Marcelle presented the key to him back in 2013, the politician who is now a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives said she only knew he had been acquitted in 2008. A Baton Rouge Rep also confirmed that she still holds the power to rescind the key since she was the one who gave it out.

TMZ reported that the process doesn’t include physically taking the $256 plaque and key back from the singer.

Kelly is facing a number of charges that go back decades: sexual exploitation of a minor, kidnapping, forced labour, and more. Central to the federal government’s case against him is a racketeering charge which positions him at the head of a criminal enterprise working together using Kelly’s fame to lure potential victims of sex crimes. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Jurors have heard from witnesses ranging from former live-in girlfriends of the singer to his former employees, many of whom were subpoenaed to testify against the singer. Kelly faces racketeering and sex trafficking charges, which he has pleaded not guilty to.

Since his trial began in Brooklyn federal court on August 18, multiple witnesses have testified that Kelly allegedly sexually and physically abused them, directed them to stay in rooms — sometimes for days and had to ask for permission from Kelly or his associates to go to the bathroom or get food.

Testifying against the singer has proven to be emotionally difficult for some witnesses. Prosecutors said in a court filing on September 14 that one of its final witnesses, a woman who had been in a relationship with him and was to testify about being physically assaulted by him in an incident that was captured in a recording, had panic attacks and an “emotional breakdown” the weekend before she was to face Kelly in court, and they said would not press her to testify. Even those who weren’t in relationships with him, like former employee Nicholas Williams, started to express how difficult it was having to testify in front of the singer, who he said was “angry all the time” and that he could frequently hear Kelly yelling during his year working for him.

“I was nervous when I first came in here because I finally had time to look him in the eye,” Williams said.

He was abruptly cut off by US District Judge Ann Donnelly and asked, “Can I say something?”

“No, you can’t. That’s not how this works,” Donnelly said.

At the heart of prosecutors’ federal case against Kelly is their allegation that he was the head of a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to promote his music, the R. Kelly brand and to “recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity” with the singer, according to an indictment.

One way prosecutors allege that Kelly and his associates recruited women was by handing out slips of paper with his number written on them. Former studio manager Tom Arnold, who worked for Kelly for eight years starting in 2003, said employees “always had those on hand.”

“I would only give it out from the direction of Rob,” Arnold testified.

Kelly, who also faces underlying racketeering acts that include kidnapping, was also accused of keeping girls and women in rooms or on vans while on tour against their will.

A former radio intern who identified herself as Sonja testified that Kelly invited her to interview him at his Chicago studio in 2003 and that once she arrived, an employee put her in a room that she quickly realized was “locked from the outside.” She said she was kept in the room for several days, occasionally let out to go to the bathroom and shower.

Sonja testified that she lost consciousness after eating her first meal in days and saw Kelly adjusting his pants when she woke up. She testified that she believed he sexually assaulted her when she was not conscious.

“I was sexually assaulted,” Sonja testified. “There was something in me that wasn’t wanted.”

Kelly’s defence attorneys have pointed out that the rooms Kelly’s female guests were kept in often did not have locks on the outside of their doors. Cannick pressed Kelly’s former assistant, Diana Copeland, on whether she’d seen Kelly lock girlfriends in rooms while she worked for him between October 2015 until February 2017.

“Have you ever saw him lock any of his girlfriends in a room?” Cannick asked.

“Never,” Copeland testified.

“Has he ever asked you to do such a thing?” Cannick asked.

“Never,” Copeland testified.

“Have you ever heard him ask any of his staff to do such a thing?” Cannick asked.

“Never,” Copeland testified.

Among the criminal acts, Kelly is accused of is violating public health laws in states where people are required to notify their sexual partners if they have infectious sexually transmitted diseases. Kelly’s personal physician of 25 years, Dr Kris McGrath, testified that he’d suspected the singer had genital herpes since at least June 2000, but a test at the time came back negative. He continued to prescribe to Kelly the medication that treats the condition for nearly two decades

The defence has started to present its witnesses today.

Kate claimed she was 27 when she met Kelly in 2001 and contracted herpes from him after they slept together. She told the court Kelly was tight-lipped when she later accused him of giving her the sexually transmitted disease. Kate said she settled with the singer in 2004, and that the herpes diagnosis ‘greatly affected her ability to enter future relationships.

Her personal physician has also testified, saying he treated the star for herpes for several years. Kelly’s lawyer Deveraux Cannick used his cross-examination to undercut earlier testimony that Kelly demanded that his girlfriends follow strict rules.

These rules have included needing Kelly’s permission to go to the bathroom, looking away from other men, and not talking about Kelly in his absence, several witnesses have testified. Kate told Cannick that Kelly behaved differently around her, letting her go to the bathroom when she wanted and not making her wait around for him for long periods. She also said she helped him write down song lyrics.

Kelly, 54, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been on trial since Aug.18 for running an alleged decade-long racketeering scheme targeting women and girls for sex, with help from employees and assistants. He has pleaded not guilty.

The witness, testifying as a “Jane Doe” in federal court in Brooklyn, made the claims on Wednesday, August 25, at his New York City trial.

‘As insurance and a way to make sure these women wouldn’t talk, [Kelly] created and collected collateral. He made them create embarrassing videos and false letters,’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez said during her opening remarks at Kelly’s ongoing sex abuse trial in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, the Daily News reported.

‘The defendant would tell us exactly what to say,’ the accuser, known on the witness stand as Jane Doe 5, testified.

Jane read excerpts from the letters aloud in court, one letter stated: ‘I decided I would spank myself really hard until I had bruises.’

When asked by the prosecution Wednesday if she had ever spanked herself, Jane responded: ‘Never.’

Jane, who has been on the witness stand since Monday, previously testified that Kelly, 54, would spank her in punishments he referred to as ‘chastisings’.

Jane, who met Kelly at a music festival in Florida when she was 17, testified that the singer’s lawyer told him to have ‘every girlfriend write a letter’ defending him after his 2008 child pornography trial.

‘The defendant would have other girlfriends make me write these letters. He said they would go to his attorneys and they’d never see the light of day,’ Jane, now 23, said

The woman shared another letter with the court where Kelly told her to state she wanted to have sex and he only wanted to be friends.

‘If you don’t bring me back that d**k then I’m going to say you raped me. I’m going to say you raped me since I was a minor,’ she wrote in the letter. I’ll tell everyone you hit me.’

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez argued that Kelly had the victims ‘create embarrassing videos and false letters’.

‘He kept it in his back pocket in case anyone tried to accuse him of anything,’ she said.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, Jane also read letters where she said her parents had suggested she lie to Kelly about her age, and that they tried to benefit financially from her relationship with him.

She claimed her parents had sought jobs from the musician and asked him to invest in their business proposals, including one involving a dildo that played Kelly’s music when in use.

‘They decided to bring dildos to his show,’ Jane wrote In an undated letter to her brother.

‘Mom pulled a dildo out in front of anybody and everybody. I thought it was a ridiculous idea.’

She also told her brother that her mother would ‘nag’ her to take photos and videos of her and Kelly so she could blackmail him, and pushed her to dress provocatively for their first encounter in 2015 when she was 17.

Jane left Kelly in October 2019 after having dated the singer for over four years.

She said during their first meeting, Kelly pressured her into having oral sex before granting her a singing audition. Afterwards, she began regularly meeting with Kelly and having sex with him in different cities, according to her testimony.

Jane also shared that her parents eventually agreed to put her under the care of a woman Kelly knew so Jane could live with him in Chicago while attending high school virtually.

The disgraced singer has pleaded not guilty to charges that he ran a decades-long racketeering scheme in which he abused six women and girls, including Jane and the late singer Aaliyah. He’s vehemently denied the charges, claiming that the women were groupies who wanted to take advantage of his fame and fortune.

The federal trial is expected to last several weeks and, if convicted, Kelly could face life in prison. He also faces sex-related criminal charges in Illinois and Minnesota

Additionally, Kelly is charged in a bribery scheme after he paid a $500 bribe in 1994 in order to get breakout singer Aaliyah, who was 15, a fake ID so he could marry her. Kelly allegedly feared that he had gotten the teen pregnant.

The ‘i believe I can fly’ hitmaker is accused of racketeering, sexual abuse and bribery; charges which he has repeatedly denied but could spend decades in jail if he is found guilty by the jury.

Some of the allegations made against the singer date back more than 20 years.

Kelly faces charges that he was the ringleader of a two-decade-long scheme where he recruited women and underage girls for sex. Prosecutors described Mr Kelly as “a man who used lies, manipulation, threats and physical abuse to dominate his victims and to avoid accountability for years”.

“This case is about a predator,” Assistant US Attorney Maria Melendez said in her opening statement. “This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot.”

The first witness during the hearing, Jerhonda Johnson Pace, told the jury, R. Kelly knew she was underage (16) in 2009 when they had intercourse in Chicago, where the age of consent is 17, according to the New York Times. Johnson Pace now 28, testified that she had initially told Kelly she was 19, but had revealed her real age on the day they had sex for the first time.

“I felt uncomfortable. I felt like it wasn’t right, that I should tell him my age. “He asked me, ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ and told me to tell everyone I was 19 – and to act 21,” said Ms Pace, who admits she was a fan of the singer.

In her opening argument, Kelly’s lawyer Nicole Blank Becker claimed the alleged victims are aggrieved groupies, who originally consented to sex before later becoming “spiteful”.

Ms Becker portrayed her client as a victim of women, saying some enjoyed the “notoriety of being able to tell their friends that they were with a superstar”.

Kelly was wearing a grey suit, purple tie, and glasses as he sat silently, with his head down at times as the prosecution opened its case.

Continuing her prosecution, Ms Melendez said Mr Kelly’s celebrity status meant he “had his pick of young fans” and that he hoarded his victims “like objects” and used “every trick in the predator handbook”. She also alleged he bribed victims by photographing and filming them having sex and then threatening to release the tapes.

The trial of Kelly was delayed several times by the pandemic. Even if he is acquitted, Mr Kelly still faces sex-related charges in Illinois and Minnesota, where he has also pleaded not guilty.

He has been in jail for the last two years.

Opening statements were delivered to a jury of seven men and five women on Wednesday afternoon, August 18. The jury will decide the Kelly’s fate.

The multiple Grammy award winning singer, songwriter and producer is accused of racketeering, sexual abuse and bribery; charges which he has repeatedly denied.

Some of the allegations made against the singer date back more than 20 years.

Kelly faces charges that he was the ringleader of a scheme for twenty years where he recruited women and underage girls for sex.

“This case is about a predator,” Assistant US Attorney Maria Melendez said in her opening statement.

“This case is not about a celebrity who likes to party a lot.”

She described Kelly as “a man who used lies, manipulation, threats and physical abuse to dominate his victims and to avoid accountability for years”.

The Grammy-winning artist – wearing a gray suit, purple tie, and glasses – sat silently, his head down at times as the prosecution opened its case.

Melendez said Kelly’s celebrity status meant he “had his pick of young fans” and that he hoarded his victims “like objects” and used “every trick in the predator handbook”.

Melendez alleged the singer used bodyguards, drivers, lawyers, and accountants to cover up many of his sexual crimes.

She also alleged that he bribed his victims by photographing and filming them having sex and then threatening to release the tapes.

Kelly is accused of requiring victims to demonstrate “absolute commitment” and obey strict rules, including that they eat or go to the bathroom only with his permission, not look at other men, and call him “Daddy.

But Kelly’s lawyer Nicole Blank Becker claimed the alleged victims are aggrieved groupies, who originally consented to sex before later becoming “spiteful”

“He didn’t recruit them. They were fans. They came to Mr Kelly,” she told the court, adding that some of the relationships were “beautiful” and “long-term”.

He has pleaded not guilty and strongly denies any wrongdoing.

If he is convicted on all counts he could be sentenced to several decades in prison.

Kelly is facing a wide array of sex trafficking charges in New York and will also be tried in both Illinois and Minnesota for a series of unrelated abuse crimes. Kelly also stands accused of having sexual contact with an underage boy in 2006.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Kelly and his legal team are attempting to throw out STD charges by claiming that herpes is not a recognised sexually transmitted disease. He also denies the charges.

Using the World Health Organisation and New York State Department of Health as a guide, Kelly and his lawyers are arguing that herpes is in fact a virus and not a bacterial venereal disease, so believe the charges should be dropped.

His legal team also argued that charges – including bribing a Chicago clerk to allow Kelly to marry singer Aaliyah even though she was underage – should be dropped because the statute of limitations had passed

“To allow the government to move forward with those counts would be to allow a clear mischaracterisation and interpretation of the application of the statute, considering the statute clearly does not incorporate herpes,” Kelly’s lawyer, Thomas Farinella, wrote.

Kelly stands accused of running a racketeering enterprise that trafficked women and girls across state lines. He allegedly had sex with numerous minors and made child pornography, prosecutors say. He also forced his victims to call him “Daddy”, and did not allow them to eat or leave rooms without his permission, prosecutors will argue.

Opening statements will begin on 18 August after Kelly fired his original legal team.