The R. Kelly trial moves along today, as the singer reports to a Chicago court for opening statements according to the Chicago Tribune. Although jury selection was held last week the trial truly begins today after a roughly six year delay. Prosecutors are expected to eliminate any reasonable doubt that the singer was infact the man on the tape. But prosecutors will run into defense challenges at every turn. Kelly, 41, denies he’s the man on the tape. The 23-year-old woman prosecutors say was a minor at the time of the taping denies she’s the girl on the tape. Defense attorneys may also contend the girl, whoever she was, wasn’t a minor at all. Despite intense media attention on the case, Judge Vincent Gaughan has vowed not to let the trial sink into a celebrity circus. He has demanded the respect of reporters, even holding up a plastic bag during a hearing Friday and saying it held pieces of chewed gum he had collected under the rows where they sat during jury selection. “Don’t stick gum on the benches,” he said. “Actually, it’s a crime.” As previously reported Kelly faces a lengthy prison sentence if prosecutors can prove that the videotape features R. Kelly and the underage girl.
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