The disgraced R&B singer’s defence attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, has filed a petition to the Supreme Court, requesting to throw out his Chicago conviction for possession of child pornography and enticing minors to engage in sexual activity, claiming that the charges should be barred by the statute of limitations.
R. Kelly was already serving a 30-year sentence for sex trafficking, stemming from his 2021 New York case, at the time he was convicted of child pornography in Chicago for which he was sentenced to 20 years in 2023. He is also appealing the New York conviction, though that case is not part of the high court petition.
In the petition, Bonjean argues that the musician was wrongly retroactively prosecuted under a federal law – the PROTECT Act – which passed in 2003 and made the statute of limitations indefinite for sex crimes with minors.
I’d say there’s no way this would work, but with this SCOTUS, who knows? “When you’re rich, they let you do it.”
It’s based on an ex post facto law, which is expressly forbidden by the constitution. I don’t like the results in this case, but it’s a stronger argument than most people have when petitioning SCOTUS.
This isn’t the typical case for an ex post facto law, though. The PROTECT Act didn’t criminalize any conduct that was previously legal. It simply changed the statute of limitations for conducts thatbwere already criminal. Since the basis for rejecting convictions based on ex post facto laws is the fact that nobody can be expected to act according to laws that didn’t exist at the time of their actions and posession of child pornography was very much a crime when R. Kelly posessed child porn, and since the expectation that the courts will fail to do their job on time does not enjoy any legal protection, there is nothing inherently wrong with applying the PROTECT Act to R. Kelly’s case.
This is my opinion as a lawyer, however I am not licensed to practice law in the USA specifically, so I may be 100% wrong.
So he did it, but he doesn’t want to be held accountable for it.
If SCOTUS strikes down the PROTECT Act, it will be a very sad day for the country. It will effectively overturn any conviction that Act was used to secure, though I think his case is probably the most prominent conviction to date. I think he’s only seeking reversal on the Chicago one to use as precedent for the New York one. Or to “try again” if that doesn’t work. When you’re facing 30+ years, can’t hurt to try, I guess…
Highly doubt that would happen. If anything, the current court would the project 2025 censorship agenda and support the Protect Act provisions that were already (correctly) struck down in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (it was just that time’s edition of the overbroad “protect the children!!!” bill that did some good and some bad; most of what remains today and hasn’t been struck down is good though).
It’s also not the law criminalizing CP so that could be where his argument might fail.(nevermind; he’s talking about the provision that extends the statute of limitations)
I wonder how those lawyers feel about taking his money to do stuff like this
Everyone has a right to fairness under the law and it’s their lawyer’s job to ensure that. The lawyers who protect the rights of the people who disgust you are the same lawyers who protect the rights of the people you sympathize with.
Defense lawyers doing all they can is good, I’m really just curious about their personal feelings on this specific case and how much they’re charging
Clarence Thomas will vote in favor of overturning. He’s a known perv.
This is a tough one, though, because Clarence Thomas doesn’t like black people.
R Kelly is too broke from legal fees to afford “on clearance Thomas”. That mfer always on sale
If Kelly can afford to buy him an rv or something maybe they can cut a deal
Merits of the request aside (because I really have no clue) how does this possibly help him?
Does he think the entire world is just going to forget he was originally convicted? That we are just going to go “Oh – there’s that guy who wasn’t ever found guilty of looking at child porn and doing sex things with kids”?
Do people who are convicted of stuff then acquitted on technicalities really think that the public just forget all their past crimes because a piece of paper says “sorry – they were prosecuted one day too late”?
It would vacate his conviction and get him out of prison. His life after may not be great, but he still has money.
As for his future career, people tend to forget/ignore all of that anyway. Chris Brown savagely beat Rihanna nearly to death, and he still has no problems booking a tour. But even if it was still a thing, he’d just say (accurately, mind you) that it was all just a plan by his lawyers. It was the most effective way of getting him out of prison, and clearing his record.
“It would vacate his conviction and get him out of prison. His life after may not be great, but he still has money.”
That I can understand – the getting out of prison part. (Sorry – I don’t pay any attention to most of this and really wasn’t aware he was in jail).
I mean, we’re seeing it live with Trump and his crimes. He’s been pre-forgiven on the basis that his convictions will get overturned on various technicalities despite the fact 12 jurors found he did that shit.
But (and I admit this is where my knowledge of what’s going on in the US gets a bit sketchy because I live in the UK and – okay – don’t care all that much) wasn’t Cosby’s conviction overturned on a technicality? And as far as I can tell he hasn’t regained his former glory and former status as “America’s Dad”?
I think that’s because R Kelly didn’t show a veneer of “Dad” to everyone for decades. Nobody wants to forgive that person, who they respected their whole lives, for making them believe he was awesome while he drugged and raped women.
Cosby will never have that love again.
Not defending him, but what ?
This isnt about his public opinion. It’s about freedom. He’d like to not be in prison.
As I said in another comment I hadn’t realised he was in prison. My level of interest in the lives of convicted paedophiles is – and this may not come as a surprise – very low, so I just thought he was trying to clear his name.
Do people who are convicted of stuff then acquitted on technicalities really think that the public just forget all their past crimes because a piece of paper says “sorry – they were prosecuted one day too late”?
Most people have their own lives to worry about. Sure some people will cut him off but most don’t care. That’s way too much effort for a stranger.
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