The 'I Believe I Can Fly' hitmaker is fighting STD charges as his legal team describes herpes as a virus and insists it's not a bona-fide sexually transmitted disease.
- Aug 10, 2021
AceShowbiz - R. Kelly has filed new legal documents in New York, asking lawmakers to throw out charges suggesting he knowingly exposed sexual partners to herpes.
As jury selection begins in his sex crimes trial, the singer is trying to score a small victory by claiming herpes isn't an "acute, bacterial venereal disease."
Federal prosecutors accused Kelly of exposing two people to the disease in March 2020, among the charges for allegedly sexually exploiting underage girls and young women, but in new documents, obtained by TMZ, his legal team claims herpes isn't a bona-fide sexually transmitted disease - according to the New York State Department of Health and the World Health Organization.
His representatives claim those organisations classify herpes as a virus, not a bacterial venereal disease.
Kelly is also facing a criminal trial in Chicago, Illinois.
Ahead of his trial, the singer is rumored to be broke. He reportedly he couldn't even afford to pay for court transcripts.
At a hearing early this month, his lawyer told Judge Ann Donnelly his client's finances were "depleted" and asked the court to "give him daily copies of the transcripts."
His lawyer also claimed the 'I Believe I Can Fly' hitmaker "gained weight" behind bars and needed new clothes for his upcoming trial.
"We need measurements for appropriate attire for his trial," he said. "We're trying to get his measurements. How can we take his size?"
"I'm not taking his size!" the judge responded.
