R kelly is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his conviction for child pornography and child enticement.
RELATED: R. Kelly reveals he “cannot read or understand words” beyond elementary school level in new court filing
Kelly challenges beliefs
Based on BillboardR. Kelly claims his case should be within the statute of limitations. The newspaper reported that R. Kelly’s attorney filed a motion on July 29 asking the high court to overturn an April ruling that denied him immunity from 2022 sentencing.
R. Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said TMZ that a 2003 federal law extending the statute of limitations could not be applied retroactively to his alleged crimes from the 1990s. EVERYBODY Bonjean reported that Congress did not make explicit provision to apply the law to crimes committed before 2003.
“Because Congress failed to specify that the PROTECT Act would be retroactive and even rejected a version of the bill that included a retroactive provision, the PROTECT Act did not extend the statute of limitations and Defendants were convicted of crimes for which the statute of limitations had expired,” the petition states.
To be clear, Kelly’s team claims that the statute of limitations has expired. But prosecutors dispute this, citing the PROTECT Act — a 2003 law that established an indefinite statute of limitations for sex crimes against children.
Although Kelly’s team has filed an appeal, the Supreme Court could still choose not to take up his case, according to PEOPLE.
However, Billboard notes that, like any appeal to the Supreme Court, R. Kelly’s case faces significant challenges. The high court receives thousands of petitions each year but only agrees to hear a small percentage.
In a statement to Related PressKelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, argued that charging him with running a RICO enterprise from 1994 to 2018 was unfair, as it involved individuals promoting his music and recruiting women and girls into illegal sex acts.
“This is not a group of people who are out to recruit girls for sexual abuse or child pornography. Whether they turn a blind eye or not, whether some of them suspect that some of these girls are underage, that is a completely different matter.”
Bonjean stated that if R. were to face charges in this matter, it would set a precedent for other organizations to be labeled as RICO enterprises.
“And once we get into that territory, where we would say that constitutes a RICO enterprise, we have a lot of organizations — we have a lot of student clubs — we have all sorts of organizations that would now become RICO enterprises,” she added.
More details on the R. Kelly case and trial
This week’s motion addresses only one of R. Kelly’s two felony abuse convictions. The other, a September 2021 guilty verdict on extortion charges from New York prosecutors, resulted in a 30-year prison sentence and is currently under appeal in a lower appeals court.
Yahoo R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is currently serving a 30-year sentence in a federal prison, the Associated Press reported.
Each CNNThe R&B musician’s sentence stems from a sex trafficking conviction in New York in September 2021.
In 2022, CNN revealed that R. had been sentenced to an additional 20 years in federal prison following a second conviction in his hometown of Chicago. He faced multiple charges related to producing child pornography and enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. The new sentence came after he had already served his original 30-year sentence.
RELATED: R. Kelly is appealing his September 2021 guilty verdict on sex trafficking, extortion charges
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