Share this page!

Dave Byrnes Profile picture
Twitter logo
Aug 16 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Jury selection has resumed in the #RKelly federal trial in Chicago with potential juror #96. At least six more jurors are needed for the panel, but presiding judge Harry Leinenweber said "the next six don't look so promising." @CourthouseNews
As he suggested, federal judge Leinenweber has dismissed potential jurors #96 - #100 in the #Rkelly Chicago trial for reasons ranging from "intense anxiety" to political opposition to police and courts. One dismissed individual also advocated for abolishing the IRS.
Federal Judge Harry Leinenweber has announced that no opening statements will be read today in #RKelly's Chicago trial. Leinenweber had hoped to at least get to the prosecution's opening statement by this afternoon, but more time is needed to empanel the jury. @CourthouseNews
I'll be ending my coverage of jury selection for the Chicago #RKelly federal trial here. Hopefully by tomorrow the jury will be fully empaneled and the court can move on to opening statements.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Dave Byrnes

Dave Byrnes Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @djbyrnes1

Dave Byrnes Profile picture
Aug 18
Day 4 of the federal #RKelly trial beginning in Chicago - day starts off with presiding judge Harry Leinenweber ordering the court sketch artists to "anonymize" Kelly's alleged victims in their sketches. Specifically, to "obliterate" their faces and hairstyles. @CourthouseNews
A retired detective who allegedly saw one of #RKelly's sex tapes is currently in cross-examination. Defense points out he saw a VHS tape some 20 years ago, but was shown a disc yesterday. Detective said he can't be sure the disc and VHS tape are exactly the same. @CourthouseNews
Kelly's lead defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean asking the retired Chicago PD detective about a report he made in 2000 regarding a DCFS complaint he allegedly received regarding the parents of Kelly's alleged victim "Jane." @CourthouseNews
Read 21 tweets
Dave Byrnes Profile picture
Aug 17
Opening statements expected today in #RKelly's federal trial in Chicago. Jury selection finished yesterday afternoon, with the jury consisting of 2 white men, 2 Black men, 4 Black women and 4 white women. @CourthouseNews
First news of the day from presiding judge Harry Leinenweber in #RKelly's federal trial in Chicago: one juror has called in sick and two are stuck on the train. @CourthouseNews
#Rkelly's trial proceedings are going to be delayed for about 30 minutes, Judge Leinenweber says, while the court waits for the jury to assemble. @CourthouseNews
Read 57 tweets
Dave Byrnes Profile picture
Aug 16
Day 2 of #RKelly's federal trial in Chicago is underway. First order of business this morning: Late last night Kelly's co-defendant Derrel McDavid moved to dismiss the charges against him, arguing the U.S. Attorney's Office waited years too long to prosecute. @CourthouseNews ImageImageImageImage
McDavid faces several of the same child porn production/distribution charges as #RKelly, but is also cited in the federal indictment as one of the main people responsible for allegedly covering up videos depicting Kelly taking part in sex acts with minors. @CourthouseNews Image
Presiding judge in #Rkelly's case, Harry Leinenweber, defers McDavid's motion to dismiss until after the conclusion of the trial. He claims he needs more time to assess its merits. "I'm of the view that the motion is probably too late," Leinenweber says. @CourthouseNews
Read 11 tweets
Dave Byrnes Profile picture
Aug 15
R. Kelly's federal trial in Chicago is set to start today at 10 am CST. While Kelly was already convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 30 years in prison by a Brooklyn federal court in June, he still faces child porn charges in Chicago. Full story to come @CourthouseNews
Trial has begun with jury selection arguments. R. Kelly's attorneys want to remove any jurors who saw the 2019 docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly." Lead R. Kelly attorney Jennifer Bonjean said "it is a fiction... that anyone [who saw the series] could be impartial." @CourthouseNews
Presiding Judge Harry Leinenweber said he will take the argument into consideration when questioning jurors, but largely disagrees that merely seeing the series is enough to bar a juror. @CourthouseNews
Read 13 tweets
Dave Byrnes Profile picture
Mar 10
Court has resumed in Jussie Smollett's sentencing hearing. Smollett was convicted in December of five counts of criminal disorderly conduct, for supposedly staging a bogus hate crime against himself in January 2019. @CourthouseNews
Prosecution now presenting a victim impact statement on behalf of the City of Chicago and Chicago Police Department: "This has cost the city well over $100,000 dollars... during this period [of investigation] police and detectives put in over 1,000 hours [of labor]."
V.I.S., cont.: It claims that Smollett falsely reporting hate crimes will have "a tremendous chilling effect" on real hate crime victims coming forward; also asks for the city and CPD to be reimbursed for the costs of the $130k+ investigation into Smollett's claims.
Read 53 tweets
Dave Byrnes Profile picture
Mar 10
Smollett's sentencing has begun in Chicago. Defense attorneys are making arguments for why they believe Smollett should be granted a new trial. First and foremost, they claim Presiding Cook County Judge James Linn lacks jurisdiction over the case, and always has. @courthousenews
They claim Cook County Judge Michael Toomin overstepped his authority in appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Smollett's case in August 2019, seeing as Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx had already dropped the county's charges against Smollett that March.
"It was a violation of Mr. Smollett's rights to re-prosecute him" for effectively the same charges he faced (and had dismissed) in early 2019, defense argues, claiming it was a due process violation and a form of Double Jeopardy - facing two punishments for the same crime.
Read 21 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(