R. Kelly has been in jail since the summer of 2019 but, following the judge’s ruling last week that the disgraced R&B singer remain in prison for the next three decades Kelly was placed under suicide control. While it seems like a pretty standard decision, especially given the length of the sentence and the high-profile nature of the case and its defendant, Kelly’s legal team has spoken openly. The team criticized the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center and their client’s alleged cruel and unusual treatment.
Robert Sylvester Kelly was convicted in September 2021 on federal racketeering charges and violations of the Mann Act, a law against sex trafficking. On June 29, Judge Ann M. Donnelly sentenced him to 30 years in prison and imposed strict release conditions. Should the 55-year-old man be released from prison at 80? . R. Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said her client was not suicidal and that putting him under suicide surveillance was a violation of his constitutional rights. She said in a statement (per Eastern time ):
Mr. Kelly was placed under suicide control for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights. MDC has a policy of putting high-profile people in the harsh conditions of suicide and seeing if they are suicidal or not (this was recently done with Ghislaine Maxwell). MDC Brooklyn is run like a gulag. My partner and I spoke to Mr. Kelly after his sentencing, he said he was mentally fine and ONLY expressed concern that although he was NOT a suicide, the MDC would put him under surveillance (as they have done). After the guilty verdict). We are in the process of going to court on this case because placing him under suicide surveillance is illegal.
The eighth amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or, in this case, cruel and unusual punishments. Jennifer Bonjean said in the complaint about her (obtained from people ) that the conditions of suicide surveillance are labeled as such and the condition of confinement is so harsh that it “can cause severe mental harm”. The lawyer’s complaint supported a number of conditions that inmates under suicide surveillance may face:
Inmates are stripped of their clothes and underwear and dressed in a suit made of a material similar to that used by moving companies to pack furniture. [and are] they are usually placed in a single cell without bed sides and are not equipped with any comfort element. They can’t shower or shave, and sometimes they don’t even have toilet paper. Meals are not stocked with utensils, forcing inmates to eat with their hands. They do not have the opportunity to consult with their relatives or support figures. And, of course, prison officers monitor them 24/7. Ironically, suicide watchers don’t even get psychiatric care.
It is unclear which or if any of these conditions apply to R. Kelly himself, as a representative of the Bureau of Prisons told People that, for security reasons, they are unable to provide information on “conditions of detention or national security practices for any particular detainee.
The 30-year sentence came nine months after R. Kelly was convicted of nine federal sex crimes after decades of indictments. In 1994, the singer illegally married 15-year-old singer Aaliyah Haughton, who died in 2001. He was arrested in 2002 on child pornography charges, but was eventually acquitted. In 2017 he dealt with allegations of brainwashing of women which was followed by trial for sexual assault in 2018. In 2019 docuseries for life Survived R. Kelly (now available for netflix subscribers ) pointed out the allegations and Kelly was arrested soon after.
Aside from his lawyers’ legal battle over the suicide investigation, the R&B singer’s legal troubles continue. He faces trial in Chicago for federal obstruction and child pornography, and he also faces state charges in Illinois and Minnesota. Given the former artist’s high profile of legal issues, it’s likely that many will continue to keep their eyes peeled as new developments develop.
Source: Cinemablend
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