R.Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against him after he was arraigned in court on Tuesday, July 16, 2019.
TMZ reports that R.Kelly showed up in court dressed in a yellow jumpsuit and chained. The prosecution lawyer all debated about his release insisting that he should remain behind bars.
According to them, he’s a danger to the community, especially to minor girls. They claim the risk of obstruction is real and ongoing, and also heightened by his fame and power. Prosecutors are also saying he has the “unique ability to influence and intimidate witnesses and victims, and that continues to this day.”
They further went on to say R.Kelly is a known child molester and that is who he is. R.Kelly went to plead not guilty to all the charges read before him. He was however denied a bail bond.
This means he would remain in prison custody which didn’t go down well with his lawyers. For his lawyer, Steve Greenberg, Kelly has already surrendered his passport and noted the guy doesn’t like to fly so he’s not a flight risk.
Greenberg also says that, to his knowledge, Kelly didn’t miss any court dates in his 2008 trial. Speaking of that trial, Greenberg responded to allegations that the case was rigged, saying R. Kelly faced a jury of his peers, and not a bench trial, TMZ reports.
It would be recalled that R.Kelly was arrested a few days ago by the police in Chicago on federal sex crime charges.
R.Kelly arrested again, this time on Federal sex crime charges
According to TMZ, the music star was arrested on Thursday, July 11, 2019, in Chicago on charges contained in a 13-count indictment returned in the Northern District of Illinois.
Joseph Fitzpatrick, spokesperson for The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District, says the indictment includes charges of child porn and obstruction of justice, TMZ reports.
This is coming barely a few months after he was slammed with 11 count charges in Illinois for abuse and sexual assault.