NEW YORK — A lawyer for R. Kelly conceded Tuesday that the singer had “sexual contact” with recording artist Aaliyah during an awkward exchange over the R&B stars’ illegal marriage when she was just 15.
But Kelly defense lawyer Thomas Farinella quickly walked back the surprising admission about Kelly and the underage “Are You That Somebody” singer.
One of the allegations against Kelly in his Brooklyn Federal Court criminal case is that he bribed an Illinois official to issue a wedding certificate in 1994 stating that Aaliyah was 18 — which if true would have made the marriage legal.
Farinella made the admission under questioning from Judge Ann Donnelly.
“Are you going to deny that there was sexual contact with Jane Doe 1?” Donnelly asked, using the pseudonym that Aaliyah goes by in the criminal case. “They were married.”
Farinella let out a deep sigh sitting at the defense table next to Kelly and responded, “No.”
Federal prosecutor Elizabeth Geddes then chimed in, giving Farinella an opening to walk back his remark by reminding him that Aaliyah was underage at the time.
“Are they not going to dispute that at the time Jane Doe 1 (Aaliyah) was 13 to 15 years old?” Geddes asked.
“We do dispute,” Farinella said, though it was not clear if he was referring to Aaliyah’s age or whether the two had a sexual relationship. “We’re not prepared to concede that right now.”
Aaliyah — born Aaliyah Haughton — was a performing artist and actress who had a mysterious friendship with Kelly for years before the two were secretly married in 1994, when she was 15 years old, and he was 27.
Aaliyah died in an August 2001 plane crash in the Bahamas.
Farinella’s awkward admission came during the final pretrial hearing in Kelly’s racketeering case that is set to begin Monday.
Kelly, 54, is accused of running an enterprise that trafficked women and girls across state lines. He is accused of having sex with numerous minors and making child pornography. He allegedly forced his victims to call him “daddy,” and did not allow them to eat or leave rooms without his permission.
On Tuesday, the feds and Kelly’s defense team sparred over additional uncharged crimes that federal prosecutors seek to raise at trial. Among them are allegations that Kelly had sex with underage boys whom he then forced to engage in sex with minor girls.
Another Kelly lawyer, Devereaux Cannick, asked the judge Tuesday to provide Kelly with free court transcripts, saying that the singer’s “funds have been depleted” since he has not worked since his incarceration.
Cannick also said Kelly has “gained weight since he’s been incarcerated,” and asked the judge if he could get a tailor to take Kelly’s measurements so he can be provided with clothes that fit for trial.
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