R. Kelly Loses Bid To Ban Jurors Who Saw ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ Docuseries

R. Kelly has long been notorious for his abusive behavior towards women. It is only recently that the singer has been facing the possibility of having to pay for his actions. However, it seems that the singer is doing his best to fight that possibility.

NBC News reports that jurors in R. Kelly’s upcoming trial will not be excluded from consideration because they saw the Surviving R. Kelly documentary series. This is a big blow to Kelly’s legal team, because they wanted to ban such jurors from participating.

The documentary series, “Surviving R. Kelly,” shares the accounts of numerous women who have come out with their stories of abuse regarding the singer. Naturally, the documentary portrays R. Kelly as a despicable man.

It is for this very reason, that the singer requested that the jurors who have watched the documentary series, be banned from his Chicago trial. Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean made this case to U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber.

It would be impossible for anyone who saw any part of the series to separate what they saw on TV and in the courtroom.

Leinenweber, however, disagreed with this claim, stating that the series aired a long time ago, and therefore does not constitute adequate grounds for banning someone from serving on the jury.

That being said, the jurors having watched the documentary series does not seem to be that big an issue. Juror questionnaires revealed that nine people had watched at least some of the series, compared to a staggering seventy who claimed they hadn’t.

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