Media seek courtroom access to R. Kelly’s trial
Say it’s at the nexus of ‘race, gender and sexual violence’
A consortium of media outlets has asked a federal judge in New York to allow a pool of reporters into the courtroom for singer R. Kelly’s upcoming racketeering trial, arguing the case is of great importance to the public because it stands “at the nexus of critical issues of race, gender, and sexual violence.”
Kelly, 54, is scheduled to go on trial in Brooklyn on Aug. 9 on racketeering charges alleging he ran a criminal enterprise that recruited women and underage girls for illegal sexual contact, then isolated and threatened them to keep them under control.
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly, who said at a recent hearing that she likes her courtroom to be “no drama,” had previously ruled that the media and members of the public wishing to attend the hot-button trial must watch via a video feed from two overflow courtrooms.
The court clerk said in a news release last month that the judge was following COVID-19 health and safety protocols still in place at the courthouse.
But in a four-page letter, outlets such as ABC, CBS, Buzzfeed, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and others asked Donnelly to consider allowing a pool of six reporters each day into the trial courtroom itself, where the reactions of Kelly, jurors and witnesses can be picked up and nuances of testimony better assessed.
The letter said access to the trial was particularly important in this case since reporters have been “critiqued for ignoring or making light of the stories of R. Kelly’s alleged victims” because of his stature and that the alleged victims are Black women and girls.
“Simply put, this is a trial of unique public importance, one at the nexus of critical issues of race, gender, and sexual violence, where media coverage is imperative,” the letter stated.
Forcing all reporters to watch from an overflow room would also put them at the mercy of technological difficulties that invariably arise, according to the letter. In the recent trial of drug lord El Chapo, for example, which took place in the same courthouse, “reporters in the overflow room missed the prosecutor’s opening statement because either the prosecutor’s microphone was turned off or because the technology was simply not functioning,” the letter stated.
According to the letter, health concerns over the ongoing pandemic have been alleviated as more people are vaccinated, and having a small pool of reporters would mean measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing could still be enforced.
“Indeed, currently, courtroom after courtroom is becoming available to the public,” the letter stated. “There is no reason that such an important and high profile case should not follow this trend.”
The trial is expected to last a month or more.
Kelly, who is being held at a federal jail in Brooklyn, also faces charges in U.S. District Court in Chicago related to alleged sex abuse of minors, as well as separate indictments brought in Cook County.