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*A jury has finally been selected in the R. Kelly child pornography trial. The court session in Chicago was on the verge of ending yesterday with 12 members and two alternates firmly in place and two more alternates about to be selected.
The panel consists of eight whites and four African Americans, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The jurors were seated, however, amid more accusations from Kelly's defense team that prosecutors were intentionally striking minorities from the jury pool in favor of whites.
The defense has been accusing the prosecution of weeding out minorities since the jury selection began five days ago. The final objection came as prosecutors used their final two peremptory challenges Thursday to strike a black man and an Asian woman from the panel.
The prosecution has already used four of their seven challenges to remove minorities during the selection process. Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan also approved the state's attorneys request to remove a black man who lied about having spent time in jail.
Gaughan suggested the defense's racism accusation was hypocritical, given the fact that Kelly's attorneys used all seven of its challenges to strike white candidates.
"I don't think [the prosecution] is doing that," Gaughan said. "You keep saying that. You haven't mentioned all the white males you've dismissed."
As far as gender goes, four of the 12 members are women. The alternates as of press time included a white man and a Latino man.
Despite the drama, four jurors were approved by both sides Thursday to complete the 12 member panel. Among the newly selected were a Romanian immigrant, a recent college graduate and a man only vaguely familiar with the R&B star.
-------- ABFF 2008 --------
The 12th annual American Black Film Festival
returns to Los Angeles, August 7-10. Film
submission is now open. Registration
discounts are available through May 15.
For information visit www.abff.com