R. Kelly Trial
DeRogatis was named as a witness in the 2008 child pornography trial of musician R. Kelly. As a Chicago Sun-Times music critic, he received a videotape in 2002, allegedly featuring R Kelly and a 14-year-old girl. He turned the tape over to police.
The defense lawyers have charged that DeRogatis should be charged with child pornography for allegedly making a copy of the tape and showing it to another person after turning the original over to police.
After initially failing to appear for the trial, DeRogatis was ordered by Judge Vincent Gaughan on May 30, 2008 to report to the trial the following day. However, upon questioning by Judge Gaughan outside of the presence of the jury, DeRogatis refused to provide substantive answers, citing his First and Fifth Amendment rights as the basis for his refusal. Judge Gaughan disagrees that as a journalist DeRogatis had a First Amendment basis for refusing to testify, but excused DeRogatis from taking the stand in front of the jury based upon his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.
Read more about this topic: Jim DeRogatis
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