R. Kelly Round Up: Jury Follies Edition

By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 15, 2008 5:33PM

We've always wondered how we could get out of jury duty if ever called [Ed note: What?! I want to be on a jury so badly! What up, civic duty?], and some members of the Kelly jury pool have given us some great examples this week. One woman was dismissed for singing high praises of Kelly, calling him a "musical genius." When asked to say something negative about him, she reluctantly brought up his feud with Jay-Z. Another woman was dismissed because the judge thought the woman's impending June wedding would distract her from juror duties. One woman, when asked if she had an opinion on Kelly replied, "Yes, he's not very smart." The Sun-Times reported that the answer caused Kelly to wear "a hurt expression on his face." Sad panda.

And then there's potential juror 37.

[Judge] Gaughan tried to get the man to clarify a response on the written questionnaire, which asked, "As a result of filling out this questionnaire, have you formed an opinion on this case?" Number 37 read his otherwise illegible or unclear answer, "Yes, child porn is immoral, people! R. Kelly may have led the Taliban to attacking us on 9/11, but you can't prove it!"

Adding to the weird vibes? The member of Kelly's entourage, whose duty it is to film all of Kelly's public appearances. Including this trial. [Trib, S-T, MTV]

R. Kelly photo from his MySpace page