CHICAGO (AFP) — Grammy-award winning rhythm and blues superstar R. Kelly broke down and wept Friday as a jury cleared him of 14 charges of child pornography.
The hugely successful Chicago-based star had consistently denied the charges since his arrested in 2002 after an incriminating video tape was sent to the Chicago Sun-Times.
"There wasn't enough evidence," jubilant defense lawyer Edward Genson told a press conference saying they were "ecstatic" that Robert Kelly was cleared of all the charges against him after the jury deliberated for less than a day.
"What happened today when those verdicts started (was) you got to see the real Robert Kelly. He sat there and he was contrite. He sat there and he was crying," said another defense lawyer Sam Adam.
"He sat there and was thanking God. All I heard the entire time those 14 verdicts were being read was thank you Jesus," Adam said, adding: "He is a deeply religious man."
Kelly had faced up to 15 years in jail if found guilty in his five-week trial which opened on May 9.
Asked how the publicity from the case which has dragged on for six and a half years had affected Kelly, Genson replied: "He seems to be selling a lot of records."
The artist has sold more than 12 million records since his arrest, pumping out an album a year and collaborating with everyone from Celine Dion to Kid Rock.
Kelly, 41, who grew up in a public housing estate on the South Side of Chicago and scored a massive hit with his 1997 tune "I Believe I Can Fly," had three top 10 hit singles last year.
The long-awaited trial had faced a number of delays, including when Kelly suffered from a burst appendix, the judge broke his shoulder falling off a ladder and a lead prosecutor gave birth.
Despite the controversy, Kelly continued to record and entertain, even including sexually charged lyrics in his songs. And his last major tour in 2006 earned 8.3 million dollars.
"There's something about him and his music," Gail Mitchell, senior R&B correspondent for Billboard Magazine told AFP last month.
"He has his finger on the pulse of what's going on, what hot melodies people are going to want to hear."
Kelly was briefly married to his protege Aaliyah, tying the knot with the teen idol in 1994 when she was just 15.
The marriage was annulled by her parents and the Brooklyn-born songstress and actress died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
