R. Kelly a no-show at latest court hearing; judge wants his first trial to be state case in Chicago

Maria Puente

A decision on who will try R. Kelly on sex-crime charges first – federal or state authorities? Illinois, New York or Minnesota? – is still up in the air so an Illinois state judge decided he's going ahead with a trial in Chicago.

Kelly was a no-show at a status hearing in Chicago on Cook County's multiple counts of sexual assault pending against the R&B singer since February.

According to Chicago's WTTV, Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood, who has been pressing to move the state's case along, was not pleased Kelly was absent.

“He has to be here,” Flood told Kelly's lead defense attorney, Steve Greenberg.

In this courtroom sketch, R. Kelly, center, listens in federal court with his attorneys Doug Anton, left, and Steve Greenberg during his arraignment in federal court, Aug. 2, 2019 in New York.
In this courtroom sketch, R. Kelly, center, listens in federal court with his attorneys Doug Anton, left, and Steve Greenberg during his arraignment in federal court, Aug. 2, 2019 in New York.

Kelly is currently being held at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago because he was denied bail twice on two separate sex-crimes indictments issued in federal courts in Illinois and in New York.

The multiple cases pending against him complicate moving Kelly from the downtown jail to different hearings, some of which have been or are scheduled in different states.

Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Gonzalez told Flood that Kelly refused transport to the state courthouse for the hearing, according to The Associated Press.

Greenberg said that claim is not “100% accurate,” but declined to give a specific reason for Kelly's absence other than saying it’s a “big undertaking” to transport Kelly.

Flood noted that in addition to the state's case, plus the two federal cases, a Minnesota case also has been brought against Kelly. He's scheduled to be arraigned in Minneapolis on child prostitution charges on Sept. 12, according to Chuck Laszewski, spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

Kelly has denied all the charges against him.

Flood asked the attorneys if there's any agreement yet about which of the four cases should proceed first. He was told that hasn't been decided.

“Everyone wants to go first,” Greenberg said.

So Flood said he'd proceed for now as if no other cases existed.

Prosecutors asked the judge to increase bond requirements for Kelly but Flood put that decision off until another status hearing on Sept. 17. He warned he expected Kelly to be there.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: R. Kelly news: Jailed R&B singer a no-show in Chicago court