Derrel McDavid, R. Kelly’s former business manager and current co-defendant, could take the stand in his own defense Wednesday in the final days of the disgraced singer’s Chicago federal trial.
McDavid had been slated to testify Tuesday, but the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse unexpectedly closed due to an unspecified “operational issue.” The delay means Kelly’s trial will almost certainly stretch into next week.
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McDavid, who faces charges along with Kelly and Milton “June” Brown, is expected to testify that one of the tapes at the center of the indictment was in fact a video of Kelly and his then-wife ― not the child pornography that prosecutors have alleged.
Wednesday will mark the second day of defense witnesses. Kelly and Brown said last week they do not plan to take the witness stand.
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McDavid’s testimony and the ensuing cross-examination promises to be lively. McDavid worked closely with Kelly for years before their professional relationship dissolved around 2013.
On Tuesday, the eve of McDavid’s expected testimony, Kelly’s defense attorneys filed paperwork asking the judge to prohibit McDavid from testifying about certain topics that they fear could unfairly prejudice the jury against Kelly — including any testimony “related to McDavid taking Kelly to get injections or any treatment to curb his sexual appetite.”
Among the other matters Kelly’s attorneys hope to keep jurors from hearing: Kelly’s marriage to 15-year-old singer Aaliyah; any lawsuits, settlements or sexual misconduct claims from other Kelly accusers, and “testimony regarding Kelly’s alleged sex addictions.”
Kelly’s attorneys also want to cross-examine McDavid after prosecutors do so.
“Kelly also maintains that the government will attempt to elicit information from McDavid on cross-examination that will be damning to Kelly,” they wrote. “Kelly cannot possibly know what to cross examine McDavid about until he hears the cross examination of the government and can assess what subject matters the prosecution is allowed to explore with McDavid.”
Before testimony resumes, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber is scheduled to take up that motion as well as a request filed Tuesday by longtime music critic Jim DeRogatis. DeRogatis is seeking to throw out a summons to testify about a purported sex tape sent anonymously to him at the Chicago Sun-Times two decades ago involving Kelly and a then-14-year-old girl.
The motion, filed by DeRogatis and his current employer, The New Yorker, alleges that by subpoenaing the longtime journalist to testify, attorneys for McDavid are trying to put his “newsgathering” on trial.
“Because Mr. DeRogatis’ role has been as an investigative reporter, compelled testimony also is invasive as to his newsgathering methods and cumulative of the actual sources and their source materials,” the motion stated.
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DeRogatis’ reporting on that tape helped break the investigation into Kelly’s alleged sexual misconduct wide open, leading to Kelly’s indictment — and eventual acquittal — on child pornography charges in Cook County. DeRogatis was called to testify in that case, but asserted his First and Fifth Amendment rights and did not answer questions.
That same videotape is one of several purported sex tapes at the center of Kelly’s current trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where Kelly, McDavid and another former employee, Milton “June” Brown, are accused of conspiring to hide Kelly’s sexual misdeeds by buying back incriminating evidence and paying off or intimidating witnesses.
Lawyers for the defendants have repeatedly tried to call into question the authenticity and chain-of-custody of the DeRogatis tape, in part because copies were made at the Sun-Times before one version was turned over to police.
Last month, McDavid’s attorneys also accused the former lead prosecutor on the case, Angel Krull, of improperly communicating with DeRogatis in early 2019 using a burner email account — “piedpiper312@gmail.com” — that was attached to a pseudonym, “Demetrius Slovenski.”
According to prosecutors, Krull had a short phone conversation with DeRogatis about possibly sharing the manuscript of his book, “Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly,” then had a brief email exchange. She did not respond to subsequent emails or voicemails from DeRogatis, according to prosecutors.
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DeRogatis previously told the Tribune that he was the one to initiate contact with federal prosecutors, in an attempt to cultivate sources. That effort was unsuccessful, he said.
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“Angel never gave me a damn thing. No federal prosecutor ever did,” he said.
Prosecutors abruptly rested their case-in-chief last week after calling only four out of the five Kelly accusers whom jurors were expected to hear from. The prosecution case has featured other surprises as well, though it remains to be seen whether any will make a difference for the verdict.
Defense attorneys for the three men called several witnesses Thursday before the case adjourned for the long weekend, including a former Chicago police officer who provided security to Kelly’s private investigator at McDavid’s request and an ex-Kelly employee who testified about the day-to-day functions of lower-rung employees.
In addition to DeRogatis, defense attorneys have hinted they may try to call disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, who represented a man who turned the two other sex tapes included in the indictment over to federal authorities in 2019, as well as Krull, who left Chicago in 2020 to care for an ailing relative and is no longer handling the case.
