R. Kelly's child porn trial opens as a hip-hopera

Seven o'clock in the morning, and the rays from the sun hit a few reporters at the R. Kelly trial. They're stretchin' and yawnin' in the "media terrace" holding area.

Shortly before a judge ruled his trial would begin as scheduled, the gifted superstar recording artist who wrote and performs what he calls his hip-hopera "Trapped in the Closet" arrived about 9:45 a.m. Friday at Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago to face child pornography charges filed in 2002. Three well-dressed men and a videoographer recording the scene followed Kelly as he used the handicapped entrance that a dozen sheriff's deputies reserved for him.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan on Friday denied a defense motion to again delay the trial -- six years after the charges were originally filed accusing the R&B superstar of having sex with a girl as young as 13 on videotape.

Defense attorney Marc Martin told the court that the jury pool was been "irrevocably poisoned" by an article in Friday's Chicago Sun-Times citing unnamed sources talking about a potential witness. But prosecutors contended it was premature to say the article affected potential jurors and that if any were tainted, they could be weeded out during the selection process.

Outside the courhouse, a handful of fans, most of them female, screamed "We love you, R. Kelly!" and "Free, R. Kelly!"

More Coverage Video R. Kelly Pornography Trial Begins

Middle-aged fathers Najee Ali and Dwight Taylor, of Concerned Citizens Against Violence in Gary, voiced the opposite opinion, hoisting a sign calling Kelly the "World's Greatest Pedophile."

"As a black man, I think it's important that someone has to take a stand for black children," said Ali, a founder of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. (Helping Oppressed People Everywhere).

A trio of young women confronted the two men and insisted Kelly is innocent of any crimes involving a girl believed to be as young as 13.

"The things she was doing wasn't young," one of the women proclaimed, as Taylor, a father of four girls, tried to explain that children can't give consent for sex.

"Where was the parents when that girl was getting (blanked)," shouted an older woman, who thinks Kelly committed no crime.

If convicted of child pornography charges, Kelly could be sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison.

Some suburban parents know Kelly as that inspirational young man who grew up in the Chicago projects and overcame obstacles to become an award-winning singer. They remember his song, "I believe I Can Fly," from when they took their kids to see that "Space Jam" basketball movie a dozen years ago. The Bulls Michael Jordan, in perhaps his finest movie role, teamed up with the animated Bugs Bunny to stuff some rowdy aliens as Kelly's melodic tune inspired them all. Lots of suburban homes probably still have a "Space Jam" videotape somewhere in a box in the basement.

Kids who saw that movie in 1996 have grown up to know a different Kelly _ a prolific and highly acclaimed RB artist who sings a lot about clubs and sex in songs with titles such as "Get Dirty," "Double Up" and "Sex in the Kitchen."

Prosecutors know Kelly as the 41-year-old man charged with child pornography after an infamous sexual video that shows a man urinating on a girl believed to be 13 or 14 years old. Kelly and a woman believed to be the child in that video both say they aren't the people in that video.

The Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune say witnesses are ready to testify for the prosecution against Kelly, including the story from a woman who says she was the third person in a three-way romp involving Kelly and the underage girl. Other stories say Kelly has reached financial settlements in civil suits involving underage girls.

A few fans hanging around the courthouse for a glimpse of Kelly might not care about anything except Kelly's music _ some of which plays into a that image prosecutors want jurors to believe. In his hit "Double Up," Kelly sings about plotting to take home two women for three-way sex. In "I'm a Flirt," he confesses that he's "a dog on the prowl when I'm walking through the mall." In "Trapped in a Closet" _ the many-parted, and much parodied, soap opera in which Kelly spins a long, complicated story _ Kelly starts off in bed with a woman but jumps into a closet to hide from her husband. Some consider his songs misogynistic and dirty. Others think of him as providing make-out music for a generation.

The criminal trial against Kelly started when he was indicted in June of 2002. The regular delays in criminal trials have been extended by the bizarre, such as Kelly's emergency appendectomy and Judge Vincent Gaughan's injuries after he fell off a ladder at home.

In an attempt to avoid a circus-like atmosphere and conduct a fair trial, Gaughan has implemented draconian rules for the trial _ from a gag order on everyone involved to threats of jail for any member of the media who bends the rules. The judge already jailed a grandmother for several days and had her cell-phone destroyed after she used her phone's camera to snap a photo during one of Kelly's earlier court appearances.

As soon as a jury can be picked, the trial will begin. Whatever happens, people can look at Kelly's voluminous work to find a song for the occasion. In the end, a guilty Kelly could sing "Apologies of a Thug" from a jail cell, while an innocent Kelly would be free to sing "I Believe I Can Fly."