The "R" is for "Ridiculous"

"I'm the Ali of today. I'm the Marvin Gaye of today. I'm the Bob Marley of today. I'm the Martin Luther King, or all the other greats that have come before us. And a lot of people are starting to realize that now." -- R. Kelly

From your Chicago Sun-Times:

It was five years ago today that a Cook County grand jury indicted R&B superstar R. Kelly on 21 counts of child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself engaging in sex acts with an underage girl. ***

The girl, who allegedly was 14 years old when the tape of her and Kelly was made, will celebrate her 23rd birthday in September. The longer the trial is delayed, the less she will look like a vulnerable teenager when she appears on the witness stand.

"It's ridiculous that it has taken five years to get to trial," said New England School of Law Professor Wendy Murphy. "There's no excuse for it. But this is a tried-and-true tactic when it comes to sex-crimes cases: 'victory by delay.' Witnesses end up moving away. They die. You tend to see a lot of delays for defendants who are wealthy. You don't tend to see a lot of delays when the defendant is a poor kid from the inner city."

Since the indictment, Robert Sylvester Kelly has recorded and released 6 studio albums that have sold over 9 million copies.