Closing arguments are coming down the pike on Monday in the trial of disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly, who faces charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
For the past four weeks, Kelly has had to endure weeks of testimony by more than 30 witnesses, including the alleged victim in the infamous 2002 sex tape.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
With a case built around decades-old video that purports to show the Chicago-born singer sexually abusing an underage girl - who testified during the trial's first week that Kelly began abusing her at age 14 -prosecutors have charged that Kelly groomed young girls for sex, and paid out a fortune to hide his crimes.
The victim on the sex tape, known to jurors as "Jane," denied she appeared on the tape two decades ago when questioned by authorities, but now says that she lied to investigators to protect the singer.
Kelly's federal trial in Chicago started over a month ago and has seen the singer's attorneys lose their bid to omit jurors who have seen the documentary Surviving R. Kelly. The disgraced R&B singer, who is obviously the central figure in this case, did not take the stand once throughout this trial.
Last week, Jim DeRogatis, a Chicago journalist who covered the singer for years, refused to testify in court, arguing that if he testified he would face some form of harassment or intimidation. According to the Associated Press, his home was shot at after he did some reporting on Kelly for the Sun-Times.
More from the Chicago Sun-Times:
Lawyers for Kelly and his two co-defendants - former business manager, Derrel McDavid, and former assistant, Milton "June" Brown - have attacked the credibility of Kelly's accusers and that of witnesses who have admitted they concealed evidence of alleged child pornography in exchange for payoffs from the star.
Prosecutors also allege that Kelly, along with his co-defendants, used the payoffs to help the singer beat child pornography charges that he faced during a 2008 trial in state court, after which Kelly was acquitted.
McDavid, Kelly's former assistant, did testify for three days last week in his own defense. He argued that during the 2008 child pornography trial, he thought the accusations against Kelly were false, based on the evidence available at the time, according to the Sun-Times.
No matter the outcome of this trial, Kelly will be spending at least 30 years in federal prison on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.