R. Kelly’s former business manager — and co-defendant in his latest trial — is expected to take the stand Wednesday as the proceedings resume for a fourth week following a one-day delay caused by a “operational issue” at the Dirksen Federal Building.
Derrel McDavid, who faces charges alongside Kelly for allegedly helping coordinate payoffs to witnesses and allegedly rounding up incriminating sex tapes ahead of the singer’s 2008 trial on child pornography charges, will offer up “substantial” testimony, his lawyers have said.
McDavid can be expected to spend considerable time on the witness stand, facing cross-examination from federal prosecutors, as well as from lawyers for Kelly and fellow co-defendant Milton “June” Brown, a former assistant in Kelly’s entourage.
First, U.S. DistrictJudge Harry Leinenweber is expected to hear arguments to quash a subpoena for former Sun-Times journalist and music critic Jim DeRogatis, who McDavid’s attorneys want to call as a witness.
In 2002, DeRogatis received a VHS cassette of Kelly performing sex acts with an alleged 14-year-old girl from an anonymous sender, which he turned over to authorities and became key evidence in Kelly’s 2008 trial. DeRogatis, whose reporting alongside fellow Sun-Times reporter Abdon Pallasch, documented numerous lawsuits against Kelly that seemed to substantiate rumors swirling around the singer in the early 2000s.
Witnesses have testified that McDavid handled payments for recovering Kelly’s stolen videotapes that allegedly showed the singer sexually abusing an underage girl.
McDavid’s lawyers have said that he was merely doing his job as Kelly’s business manager.
Kelly’s trial was expected to resume Tuesday, but was delayed when U.S. District Clerk of Court Thomas Bruton announced that an “operational issue” at the Dirksen Federal Building would cause the courthouse to remain closed for an additional day after the holiday weekend. Officials later said the courthouse would reopen on Wednesday.
The trial was expected to end this week, but due to the delay could now enter a fifth week.
Kelly, 55, already has been convicted of child trafficking and racketeering in federal court in New York and been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
