CHICAGO — On the third straight day of testimony from R. Kelly’s co-defendant and former business manager, prosecutors sought to portray him 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 and could continue all day Friday.
McDavid has repeatedly said he had no reason to believe Kelly was involved in wrongdoing in the late 1990s and 2000s, when he 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.”
McDavid testified Thursday that it wasn’t until viewing evidence during the current federal trial that McDavid saw things differently, he said Thursday.
“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.
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