A month after winning a stunning acquittal on all charges, the attorney for R. Kelly’s former business manager Derrel McDavid has filed an unusual request to force the government to pony up McDavid’s nearly million-dollar legal tab as penalty for bringing a case that he says was “vexatious, frivolous and in bad faith.”
The long-shot motion filed Tuesday by attorney Beau Brindley alleged the evidence against McDavid was “irreconcilably conflicted and incoherent,” and that he deserves payment after successfully defending himself against a “capricious and overzealous prosecution.”
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McDavid incurred $850,000 in legal fees, most of which has not been paid, and he has been left to try to liquidate real estate and other assets in an attempt to make up the difference, Brindley stated in the 18-page filing.
McDavid was paid millions as Kelly’s longtime associate, according to trial testimony. He is a professional accountant who also managed other celebrities, and co-owns the popular River North restaurant Mercadito.
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After a hotly contested monthlong trial, a jury of seven women and five men acquitted McDavid, 61, of all counts alleging he conspired with Kelly and another associate, Milton “June” Brown, to buy back incriminating videotapes of the singer sexually abusing underage girls and rig his 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County. Brown was also acquitted of the single count against him.
The verdict was split, however, as the jury convicted Kelly on child pornography charges for making three videotapes of himself sexually abusing his then-14-year-old goddaughter beginning in the late 1990s, as well as sexual misconduct with two other minors around the same time period. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 23.
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The conspiracy charges in the prosecution’s case hinged in large part on the word of two witnesses — Charles Freeman and Lisa Van Allen — whom defense attorneys repeatedly characterized as liars and extortionists.
In his motion Tuesday, Brindley argued that prosecutors allowed Van Allen and Freeman to tell the jury “a story that had to be false” based on the testimony of other witnesses and their own prior sworn statements.
“These witnesses provided the essence of the case against Mr. McDavid,” Brindley wrote. “And the government knew their combined testimony was necessarily incoherent. This is, by definition, a reckless disregard for the truth, which constitutes a frivolous and vexatious position by the government.”
Brindley also publicly filed several attachments to his motion, including lengthy transcripts of grand jury hearings that by law are supposed to be kept secret. Those attachments were later placed under seal.
It’s extremely rare for a judge to grant the type of relieve Brindley requested, particularly in a case as heavily litigated as Kelly’s. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber previously ruled in favor of prosecutors on several motions seeking to dismiss counts in the indictment.
Prosecutors have not yet responded to Brindley’s allegations.
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
