June 16th, 2008

After a less than a day’s worth of deliberation, the jury in the R. Kelly trial has come to a verdict: Not guilty. Kelly was acquitted of all fourteen counts of child pornography as the defense mustered enough reasonable doubt to set free the embattled R&B star.

The jury’s decision didn’t come without drama, however. While eating dinner last night with his fellow jurors, one juror had an unexpected outburst when a waiter took too long to bring him a beer. “I’ve been waiting for fucking half an hour — how long do I have to wait? All I want is a couple of beers and a hamburger,” the juror, a white male in his forties, yelled before ultimately taking the bottle and smashing it on the table. The juror was then brought outside to calm down, but things got so out of hand, the juror was given his own room last night in the hotel, while the rest of the male jurors had to share rooms. Upon hearing about the juror’s exploits at dinner, the judge asked the juror if he had mental problems, to which he replied he was just “claustrophobic.” The prosecution, who wanted the juror removed, and the defense, who wanted him to stay, fought over the juror’s fate, with the other eleven jurors preferring he stay on for the verdict. The judge agreed, and the juror remained.

Then, this morning, another juror, a black male in his forties, asked the judge if he could be removed from the trial. A note was passed to the judge asking “How can I be removed and go home? I really need to.” Before the judge could rule whether or not the juror would be removed, the jury had come to their “not guilty” verdict.

Source: Rolling Stone http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdail…y-not-guilty/#