CHICAGO — The defense has rested in the federal trial of R&B singer R. Kelly and two former associates, setting the stage for closing arguments and a possible verdict next week.
Lawyers for Kelly, his former business associate Derrel McDavid, and ex-employee Milton “June” Brown each rested after McDavid concluded more than 14 hours of testimony over the past three days. Prosecutors were still deciding whether to put on rebuttal witnesses, but the judge has said the trial will conclude next week either way.
The quick end to the evidence phase of the case came after prosecutors spent hours on cross-examination Friday seeking to portray McDavid as too much of an insider to ever have been ignorant of Kelly’s true actions — and indicated that he had a significant financial interest in making sure Kelly’s reputation stayed clean.
Derrel McDavid knew about the lawsuits alleging Kelly’s sexual misconduct but simply wanted “to pay (the claimants) off, to just give them money, to make them go away,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeannice Appenteng asserted.
“It wasn’t about getting to the truth of the matter, right?” she asked.
McDavid responded that she was misstating his testimony.
“It was about protecting your boss and protecting your pocket,” Appenteng asserted.
“No, ma’am,” McDavid said. “It was not about my pocket.”
McDavid and Kelly face federal charges alleging they concealed evidence showing Kelly sexually abused his goddaughter. McDavid has made the rare — and somewhat risky — decision to testify in his own defense. His marathon testimony began Wednesday morning.
McDavid has repeatedly said he had no reason to believe Kelly was involved in wrongdoing in the late 1990s and 2000s, when Kelly was repeatedly accused of sexually abusing underage girls. McDavid testified that at the time of Kelly’s 2008 Cook County trial, he believed the tape at the center of the charges was phony, and that Kelly was frequently extorted by liars who were out for a payday.
McDavid’s defense depends in large part on the claim he believed Kelly was actually innocent during the time period of the alleged cover-ups, and that he only ever acted at the behest of all the lawyers and investigators he hired.
On prosecutors’ cross-examination, they noted that the main lawyers and investigator who McDavid said informed his views on Kelly’s innocence are all now dead.
“So you are the only one left to describe what was said and what was not said during those conversations, is that right?” Appenteng asked. McDavid answered no.
McDavid confirmed, however, that he made a significant amount of money managing Kelly’s affairs before the two men had a professional falling-out around 2013.
McDavid has been somewhat contentious on the stand, telling the prosecutor repeatedly that he thought she was misrepresenting his previous testimony in her questions. Several times, he’s had a confused expression cross his face, opened his mouth and closed it, before saying, “I don’t recall.”
At one point, when asked about how much he’d earned in commissions from Kelly’s companies during a particular year, McDavid asked Appenteng if she could total it.
“You’re the accountant. Can you total it?” she joked, prompting jurors and spectators to burst into laughter.
McDavid threw his hands up and smiled, saying, “I don’t have a calculator.”
Appenteng noted that McDavid previously said he didn’t believe Kelly’s accusers in part because they didn’t go to police with their claims. But, she noted, McDavid never called law enforcement when he thought Kelly was being stolen from or extorted by people like prosecution witness Charles Freeman.
“You didn’t call the police on Charles Freeman for his extortion attempt? You didn’t want police to see that tape, the tape that contained child pornography, right?”
“No ma’am,” McDavid responded. McDavid again repeatedly claimed he did not see any of the video that Kelly’s team recovered.
In a particularly testy exchange, prosecutors also pressed McDavid on whether he was really absent for a crucial meeting at an Oak Park hotel.
Kelly’s goddaughter, known in the trial as “Jane,” has previously testified that at that meeting, Kelly told her parents about their sexual contact. Jane said she could not recall whether McDavid was present. However, her mother “Susan” testified McDavid was there, but said Kelly did not make any admissions of wrongdoing.
McDavid on Friday strenuously denied being present for that meeting, a claim prosecutors sought to cast doubt on. McDavid previously testified that the meeting would involve “delicate” matters.
”It’s delicate because Kelly is admitting to having sex with his goddaughter for the first time, right?” Appenteng asked.
“Oh, my God,” Kelly’s defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean exclaimed.
Judge Harry Leinenweber then sustained an objection before one was even made.
After another question about the meeting, McDavid leaned back in his chair and said directly to Appenteng, “You gotta do better.” He then quickly said, “I’m sorry for saying that,” clamping a hand over his mouth.
Another sharp exchange occurred shortly before the lunch break, when Appenteng asked whether it was true that McDavid had hugged a man after he returned a Kelly sex tape to him in exchange for money. “Huh? No, ma’am,” McDavid said.
“You have to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ not ‘huh.’” Appenteng said.
Toward the end of his direct examination Thursday, McDavid testified that it wasn’t until viewing evidence during the current federal trial that McDavid saw things differently.
“For the last three weeks … I’ve learned a lot of things that I had no idea about in 2008,” McDavid said.
Asked if he wanted to believe Kelly’s claims that his accusers were all liars, McDavid said, “I absolutely did.” When asked why, his voice started to break.
“Because I loved him and I believed in him,” McDavid said. “As I stand here today, I’m embarrassed, sad — ”
His answer was cut off by loud objections from Kelly’s attorney as well as prosecutors.
On cross-examination Friday, prosecutors asserted McDavid would long ago have been aware of the accusations made by two witnesses who testified at this trial. The two, identified only as Tracy and Nia, made claims that Kelly’s team settled long before this trial. McDavid was even named in a suit filed by Nia, though McDavid said he had no memory of that.
Earlier in the trial, jurors had seen excerpts of three videos purporting to show Kelly having sexual contact with his underage goddaughter, Jane. Defense attorneys have not directly challenged the fact that Kelly and Jane are depicted on the sexually explicit footage.
And prosecutors presented extensive testimony from Jane that Kelly had sexual contact with her “innumerable” times beginning when she was just 14, then pressured her to lie about it.
Kelly, 55, faces an indictment charging him with 13 counts of producing and receiving child pornography, enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activity, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Also charged are McDavid and Milton “June” Brown, who are accused in an alleged scheme to buy back incriminating sex tapes that had been taken from Kelly’s collection and to hide years of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.
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