R. Kelly is moving to dismiss charges that accuse him of deliberately transmitting herpes to his claimed victims. His lawyers contend that the virus does not meet the definition of an “acute, bacterial venereal disease” as defined by the public health law.
This morning, his lawyer Thomas A. Farinella wrote in a 13-page memo supporting his motion to dismiss, “To allow the government to move forward with those counts would be to allow a clear mischaracterization and interpretation of the application of the statute, considering the statute clearly does not incorporate herpes.” He added, “It is unequivocal that this law was passed to prevent exposure to an acute, bacterial venereal disease such as syphilis or gonorrhea and not herpes.”
The move to dismiss cites the history of the public health statute, which was created in 1943 to curb the spread of syphilis and gonorrhea among military personnel during World War II.
According to the request to dismiss, the Act was revised three years later, in 1946, more than two decades before experts identified genital herpes as a disease.
Allowing the government to pursue this notion, according to R. Kelly’s team, might lead to federal criminalization of HIV transmission.
The motion to dismiss states, “If the Court permits this statute to apply in this case, there is no limit to the government’s power to charge people with HIV of the same crime.”
Prosecutors previewed testimony from anonymous witnesses in a recent pre-trial petition, including Jane Doe #5, who is scheduled to testify that she was 15 years old when she met Kelly in Florida in 2015. Prosecutors claim that the musician also filmed himself having intercourse with her, “thereby producing child pornography.”
Prosecutors allege that “As a result of the defendant’s actions, Jane Doe #5 contracted an incurable sexually transmitted disease at the age of 17.”
Some of the claimed victims, according to R. Kelly, were not children and had consensual intercourse with him.
“For years, the singer has used this argument to defend himself against accusations that he exposed his supposed victims to the disease recklessly. According to his lawyers, the allegation does not apply to “adult, consensual sexual intercourse.”
The memo states, “Essentially, the law requires that the risk connected to a reckless endangerment charge must demonstrate, a ‘gross-deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation,’ and permitting this charge to stand would be tantamount to criminalizing adult, consensual, sexual intercourse.”
As a result of his actions, Kelly is accused of “producing child pornography,” but he claims that the government has not produced any evidence.
“However, there is no evidence that visual depictions exist,” the memo states. “Therefore, as a matter of law and because it is impossible to find the Mr. Kelly of these allegations should be dismissed.”
The memo was filed on Monday, the day before jury selection was to commence. The trial is set to begin on Aug. 18.
