The jury has been selected in full in the trial of R Kelly., and opening statements will begin Tuesday (May 20) at 11am.
Kelly is standing trial on child pornography charges after he allegedly filmed himself having sex with a minor sometime between January 1998 and November 2000.
The jury is now made up of a 68 year-old male white Romanian immigrant, a white female athletic trainer in her 20s, a white male college graduate, a white male who says he�??s only vaguely aware of R Kelly., a white father of two who already believes Kelly is guilty, a white student who hopes to become a cop, a white male who has served on two previous juries, and a white man who wears an �??Impeach Bush�?? badge on his backpack.
There are four black members on the jury: a pastor�??s wife, a Christian male, a female teacher�??s aide and a trainee chef.
The four alternates on the jury are a white male in his 20s, a young Latino male who works for Apple, a retired sheriff�??s deputy, and a middle aged black woman.
Race was at the centre of the issues today when defense attorneys objected to minorities being struck off the panel. A black man and an Asian woman were removed from the jury after the man lied about previous run-ins with the law, and the woman revealed she has health problems.
The trial is expected to last one week.
--By our New York staff.
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