I've been following the R. Kelly trial for the last week and I find it utterly fascinating. Not so much the details of the trial, but the entire judicial process in general.
Jury selection took a few days, and ultimately a few people who said they think R. Kelly was guilty made it through. One tidbit I found interesting was Vincent Gaughan asking each juror to look R. Kelly in the eyes and say they were going to give him a fair trial. I don't know if that's standard practice in criminal trials but it was worth noting. If interested, you can read profiles on the 12 jurors HERE The defense team potentially dodged a bullet, when a female rape victim juror was dismissed from duty because of financial burdens as a result of the trial.
This tidbit below describes the mood in the courtroom as everyone watched the sex tape in question. The prosecution dimmed the lights for viewing immediately after opening statements.
Kelly has always claimed that he has never even seen the tape, and the singer looked uncomfortable watching it at first. Sometimes Kelly would turn to one of his defense attorneys, Sam Adam Jr., and make a few comments in his ear. Otherwise, his attention was on the screen, resting his head on his hand during part of the tape, tilting his head and leaning forward at times. Some of the members of the jury looked a little disturbed, including juror #6. Juror #44 had looked eager to see the tape when it started, but as it progressed, he slinked back in his chair, his eyes darting at his fellow jurors to see how they reacted.
Here's a Chicago news broadcast chronicling today's events also.
My Trusted MOGs
dayum...what weird sh%t is on that tape????!
My Trusted MOGs
Seeing trials such as this in the media is so disturbing. I don't mean content-wise either. It just seems like a criminal trial could be totally compromised by exposing who the jurors are, letting the media into the courtroom etc. In Australia, these sorts of cases are kept pretty hush-hush until the whole thing is over. I mean, of course we hear about it, but not nearly as much detail. Scary stuff.