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When R. Kelly’s defense attorney Deveraux Cannick gave their closing arguments on September 23, they said that the disgraced singer shouldn’t be convicted because he embodies the same values as the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Cannick quoted Dr. King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech when compared Kelly and the Nobel Peace Prize winning civil rights leader.
“Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech,” he said. “Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press.”
Cannick said that like Dr. King, Kelly wants the constitution to be upheld so the government can “be true to what’s on paper.”
“That’s all Robert is trying to do,” he added.
Cannick also brought up Kelly’s preference for younger women and compared him to Hugh Hefner.
“His label made him a sex symbol and playboy. Where is the crime in that? Older man, somewhat younger women…some people just like it that way,” he said. “Hugh Hefner — that was his life. Not a crime.”
He continued comparisons and even brought former vice president Mike Pence into the mess when he addressed claims from witnesses that Kelly had the women he allegedly sexually abused call him “daddy.”
“Daddy! It’s almost a crime to call a man a daddy,” Cannick said according to The Daily Beast. “I guess people can’t do that anymore. The former vice president called his wife mother.”
He went on to mock the witnesses, nine women and two men, that took the stand and graphically described the sexual and physical abuse they endured. He said the prosecution pushed for them to create false narratives and that the witnesses wanted to “monetize” their testimonies. He even called one the witness who was 16 when she said Kelly abused her and held her against her will a “stalker, a groupie extraordinaire.”
They were lying and you know they were lying,” Cannick said. “Just lie after lie after lie. The government let them lie. Where is the fairness to Robert? Where is the integrity in the system?” he added.
the jury will now deliberate. If Kelly is convicted, he faces 10 years to life in prison.
