R. Kelly Found Not Guilty
In the latest super star criminal trial, R. Kelly, has been found not guilty. This is a very large upset for the prosecutors on this case. This was great work on behalf of the defense lawyers involved in the case. Mr. Kelly was charged with violation of child pornography laws. With no witness to come forward and testify that he had sex with a minor except a woman who was apparently part of threesome with Kelly, there was little the prosecutor could do with a rape charge. However, with the child pornography charge, it is typical that the victim does not testify. Many times the victim is not even in this country. The United States and several other countries keep a database of minors that are used in child pornography rings. This database allows them to determine the approximate age of the children in the video or photographs.
The criminal defense attorneys in this case were very smart in their theory of defense and their trial strategy. They were also very lucky in having a judge that allowed the case to go on for so many years. Most judges would not have allowed this case to be continued for over 2 years. There may be issues that I am unaware of, but a case pending for over 4 years is very rare.
The Feds may come knocking. Mr. Kelly should be very careful with his new freedom. He is still exposed to Federal child pornography laws. The United States Attorney can also prosecute him for possession and production of child pornography. The penalties in the federal system provide for much more severe sanctions than in the state systems. Good defenses to this are hard to find. Many times the possession of child pornographic material on a computer is enough to open up a client to substantial prison time. Detroit's United States Attorney office has a division dedicated to child pornography and travel to engage in illicit sexual acts with minors. This division has several sting operations on the internet and over the phone that are used to get defendant's to travel across state lines in order to have sex with minors and trade child pornography on the internet. As a criminal defense lawyer on these cases, the primary defenses are entrapment, lack of knowlege and no specific intent. Defending clients in South Carolina, Florida and Michigan in the past several years has provided some good results for our clients.
Our criminal defense attorneys are experienced in child pornography defense. We have defended clients for possession of child pornography in Detriot and Miami and Ft. Lauderdale Florida. Our criminal defense attorneys in Charleston and Myrtle Beach are extremely knowledgeable about defending child pornography and sex crime cases.
