Kelly's defense team objected to the prosecution's wish list, complaining they were "blindsided" by a motion filed just a few weeks before the trial is to begin. The women accusers who testify will be called only by their first name in court, the judge ruled.Īlso likely to be excluded from the trial is any testimony about religious beliefs or that some of the women were directed to have sex with one another, the judge said. The accusers of the charged crimes have not been identified publicly, although Blank Becker said Aaliyah is Jane Doe #1 in the case and the prosecution's description of Jane Doe #1 matches her. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
Prosecutors accuse Kelly of leading "a criminal enterprise" of managers, bodyguards and other employees, who allegedly helped Kelly to recruit women and underage girls for sex and pornography, and to cross state lines for that purpose. Those charged crimes involve six women (two were girls at the time), and include child pornography, kidnapping, obstruction of justice, sex-trafficking and racketeering for purposes of sexual exploitation of children. The uncharged acts are “directly relevant to and inextricably intertwined with the evidence of the charged crimes,” the prosecutors argued in their motion. Instead, prosecutors will present them as "other acts" of alleged criminal behavior by Kelly, meant to bolster their case on the crimes for which he was indicted in July 2019. The issue of the marriage is among a dozen allegations and potential witnesses that prosecutors sought Tuesday to bring up at Kelly's trial, scheduled to start jury selection on Monday in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.ĭuring the hearing, Donnelly went over the prosecutors' wish list of matters they want to present to the jury as other alleged instances where Kelly is accused of sexually or physically abusing people, even though Kelly is not charged with crimes in connection with these matters.