R. Kelly co-defendant expected to take the stand for prosecutors’ cross-examination

R. Kelly’s former business manager, who along with Kelly faces federal charges alleging they concealed evidence showing Kelly sexually abuse his goddaughter, is slated to begin his third day of testimony Friday.

Derrel McDavid began testifying in his own defense on Wednesday morning and continued all day Thursday; altogether, he has been on the stand for about 10 hours. Prosecutors will have the chance to cross-examine him Friday.

McDavid has repeatedly said he had no reason to believe Kelly was involved in wrongdoing in the late 1990s and 2000s, when he was repeatedly accused of sexually abusing underage girls. McDavid testified that at the time of Kelly’s 2008 Cook County trial, he believed the tape at the center of the charges was phony, and that Kelly was frequently extorted by liars who were out for a payday.

McDavid’s defense depends in large part on the claim he believed Kelly was actually innocent during the time period of the alleged cover-ups, and that he only ever acted at the behest of all the lawyers and investigators he hired.

It wasn’t until viewing evidence during the current federal trial that McDavid saw things differently, he said Thursday.

“For the last three weeks … I’ve learned a lot of things that I had no idea about in 2008,” McDavid said.

Asked if he wanted to believe Kelly’s claims that his accusers were all liars, McDavid said, “I absolutely did.” When asked why, his voice started to break.

“Because I loved him and I believed in him,” McDavid said. “As I stand here today, I’m embarrassed, sad — “

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His answer was cut off by loud objections from Kelly’s attorney as well as prosecutors.

Jurors have seen excerpts of three videos purporting to show Kelly having sexual contact with his underage goddaughter, “Jane.” Defense attorneys have not directly challenged the fact that Kelly and Jane are depicted on the sexually explicit footage.

And prosecutors presented extensive testimony from Kelly’s goddaughter, who testified under the pseudonym Jane, that Kelly had sexual contact with her “innumerable” times beginning when she was just 14, then pressured her to lie about it.

Kelly, 55, faces an indictment charging him with 13 counts of producing and receiving child pornography, enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activity, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Also charged are McDavid and Milton “June” Brown, who are accused in an alleged scheme to buy back incriminating sex tapes that had been taken from Kelly’s collection and to hide years of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com