Evidence of Aaliyah’s alleged sexual abuse by R. Kelly will not be presented at Chicago trial
- Evidence of R Kelly’s marriage to Aaliyah will not be presented at his federal trial this month.
- Kelly will be tried for child pornography and sexual abuse in Chicago.
- Kelly illegally married Aaliyah in 1994 when she was 15.
According to court documents, evidence of R Kelly’s short-lived sham marriage to R&B singer Aaliyah will not appear in his upcoming federal trial in Chicago on child pornography charges.
Kelly, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, was sentenced in federal court in New York to 30 years in prison in June for racketeering and sex trafficking.
He faces a second federal trial in Chicago on August 15 for producing child pornography and sexually abusing six minors.
Northern Illinois District Court Judge Harry D. Leinenweber ruled on multiple motions on admissible evidence on Wednesday, according to court documents seen by Insider.
Leinenweber denied a motion by Kelly to exclude evidence of her marriage and alleged sexual relationship with Aaliyah on the grounds that the request was moot after the prosecution responded that she had no intention of presenting evidence of the relationship, according to court documents.
Kelly also requested that the government not present evidence that he infected a sexual partner with herpes or that he impregnated an accuser or facilitated abortions, the documents say.
The government has said it does not plan to present any evidence of either situation.
Against Kelly’s request, Judge Leinenweber decided to allow evidence that he had previously been prosecuted by accusers and evidence of his previous conviction in 2021.
Kelly’s former manager testified at her trial in New York that Aaliyah’s uncle Barry Hankerson – who also managed the R&B star – introduced them when she was 12.
Kelly and her manager Demetrius Smith flew to Aaliyah’s Detroit home in 1992 to hear her sing – at her uncle’s request. The meeting went well, Smith said, describing Aaliyah’s voice as “angelic”. Kelly then began to write and produce his music.
Kelly illegally married Aaliyah in 1994 when he was 27 and she was 15 so she could have an abortion without her parents’ permission, according to testimony at the New York trial.
Several witnesses in Kelly’s 2021 trial told the jury that Kelly bribed an Illinois government employee to obtain a fake ID for Aaliyah in order to marry her.
Former Kelly employees Derrel McDavid and Milton Brown were also charged in the case and are accused of conspiring to conceal evidence before Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County.
Kelly, McDavid and Brown have all pleaded not guilty to the charges against Chicago.
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