Judge grants R Kelly a second chance after lawyers claim he cannot read
Singer R. Kelly just got a small victory in the sexual abuse lawsuit against him - one that he had originally lost by not responding - as the judge presiding over the case has given him a do-over in court, according to reports.
R. Kelly's new attorneys filed a motion in Cook County, Illinois, asking a judge to throw out the default judgement passed against the singer back in April when he didn't show up to fight the sexual abuse claims against him - he had allegedly sexually abused Heather Williams at the age of 16.
In what can be deemed as an interesting turn of events, R. Kelly's lawyers argued that the singer was "confused and overwhelmed" when he first got served court papers in jail. Even more interestingly, the lawyers said Kelly is illiterate and apparently didn't know what he was reading.
At that time, his civil attorney Brian Nix reportedly said, "R. Kelly was served while incarcerated on the child support case and he was overwhelmed by the experience of being in jail. [Being overwhelmed] coupled with Mr. Kelly not being cognizant of what the motion fully meant led to him missing the hearing. I had no idea he had been served."
What can we do? It looks like the judge bought the explanations Kelly's legal team offered and vacated the default judgement. This means that he can now fight the lawsuit on its merits. His attorneys Zaid Abdallah and Raed Shalabi have been reported saying, "We've never been a part of a criminal case where an alleged victim has filed a civil case during a criminal proceeding."
They say the judge's decision is a "big win for Mr. Kelly".