R. Kelly trial: Co-defendant and former manager Derrel McDavid continues testimony

On his second day on the witness stand, former R. Kelly business manager Derrel McDavid continued to stress that he had no reason to believe claims that Kelly was sexually abusing his goddaughter “Jane,” when she was as young as 14.

Recalling a meeting Kelly had with Jane and her parents in 2002, McDavid testified he had no reason to believe that meeting was about a tape of Kelly having sex with Jane when she was underage. He also said that, after the meeting, Kelly went with him while he went to pick up his kids from school, and he wouldn’t have allowed Kelly to come along if he knew about any questionable behavior by the singer.

Later, as Kelly was preparing to perform at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, McDavid said he was informed that Kelly’s former manager, Barry Hankerson, had called Kelly’s lawyer, Gerry Margolis, claiming he had a tape of Kelly having sex with a minor. 

McDavid testified he believed Hankerson, who had been fired as Kelly’s manager, was out to ruin Kelly, and since Jane and her family had repeatedly denied any abuse claims, he didn’t believe Hankerson. 

The same day as Hankerson’s call, Chicago Sun-Times reporter and music critic Jim DeRogatis called Margolis, also saying he had a sex tape of Kelly. McDavid said he believed none of that was coincidence, and that Hankerson was out to destroy Kelly.

McDavid testified he hired prominent defense attorney Ed Genson to represent Kelly after the singer became the subject of a criminal investigation, and Genson said they needed to interview Jane themselves. McDavid said he waited in Genson’s office until Jane arrived, when Genson told him to “get out.”

After Jane talked to Genson, McDavid said Jane and Kelly left the office, and Genson told him he believed Jane’s denials that Kelly sexually abused her. McDavid testified Genson told him, “The tape is a fake. And I’m gonna prove it.” According to McDavid, Genson slammed his fists on his desk, and was very animated and ready to fight.

McDavid later turned to a meeting with Jane’s family, who he said told Kelly’s team they were worried about publicity from the tape, and wanted to get out of town. McDavid testified he called Genson, and he told them it was fine, since the family hadn’t been subpoenaed about the tape, so he paid for two trips out of town. Each trip lasted about a week or two, according to McDavid, who said that Kelly could have afforded to send the family away for longer, but Kelly never suggested that.

McDavid said, at that point, he still had no knowledge that Jane might be on any tape having sex with Kelly.

Jane and her mother have testified earlier that Kelly paid for them to go to Mexico and the Bahamas so that they couldn’t talk to prosecutors or the media.

McDavid testified, after the Sun-Times published an article in February 2002 about the tape allegedly showing Kelly having sex with an underage girl, a number of other allegations against Kelly came out, and Kelly later was charged with child pornography. McDavid said after Kelly was charged, Genson told him all of the civil claims against Kelly would have to be settled, and Kelly couldn’t make any public statements.

According to McDavid, by then Kelly didn’t seem like himself, and appeared “broken,” so they hired a psychiatrist for him. McDavid said he attended some of Kelly’s sessions with the psychiatrist, who asked Kelly about the ape with Jane, and Kelly again said “there was no sex tape of him and a minor.” 

McDavid testified that further reinforced his belief that Kelly was telling the truth that there was no tape of him having sex with a minor, because “why would you waste your time [with a psychiatrist] if you’re not going to tell them the truth?”

McDavid said his faith in Kelly was later reinforced when Genson told him Jane had testified before a Cook County grand jury, and continued to deny being abused by Kelly. 

Kelly was arrested at his Florida home in 2002. McDavid said that happened despite prosecutors previously telling Genson that Kelly would be able to turn himself in on his own in Chicago. McDavid testified Genson “lost his mind,” accusing prosecutors of lying to him, and trying to ruin Kelly’s reputation and try the case in the media.

McDavid testified he later told Genson that Charles Freeman had approached them, claiming to have an incriminating sex tape, and that Genson wanted to get every tape that could be found to have them analyzed by experts, and proved to be fakes. McDavid said Genson also wanted them because “any tapes that got out could taint the jury pool, would be out in the media, could affect the trial.”

McDavid said he didn’t watch any of the tapes Genson was able to get, and that only Genson and his assistant would watch them. Asked if Genson ever told him any tapes involved someone who appeared to be a minor, McDavid said that never happened.

McDavid testified that, shortly after Kelly was indicted in 2002, Chuck Freeman sued Kelly, and the case was settled for $65,000, not the $140,000 that Freeman was supposed to get for his tape, after Freeman failed a lie detector test and gave them a bad copy of the tape. McDavid also disputed Freeman’s testimony earlier in the trial that Kelly’s team agreed to pay him up to $1 million to get back the tape, saying they only ever promised $140,000.

McDavid said he believed Freeman was simply trying to extort Kelly when he was “vulnerable” and coulnd’t do anything. He testified he told Genson and Margolis they shouldn’t give Freeman any money, because “this guy is a bad disease that’s just going to keep coming back,” but McDavid says he listened to them because they were the experts.

Despite the criminal charges against Kelly, McDavid testified he continued to believe in Kelly, because the case didn’t affect his career, and other star musicians like Jay-Z and Wyclef Jean continued to book shows with Kelly. 

McDavid testified he continued to believe Jane’s denials that Kelly sexually abused her, because she and her family didn’t ask for a payoff, even though they could have asked for millions if the allegations were true. He said that made him think they were truthful, honest people.

However, McDavid has also previously testified that accusers who did demand money from Kelly after accusing him of sexual abuse were just out to extort him.

Turning to Kelly telling him in 2007 about a sex tape his then-girlfriend Lisa Van Allen stole from him, McDavid said Kelly never tried to deny the tape existed, telling him it showed him and Van Allen having a threesome with his wife. McDavid testified Kelly was concerned about how his children would feel knowing his wife was involved in a tape, saying it could ruin their marriage.

Van Allen has testified the tape she took showed her having a threesome with Kelly and his 14-year-old goddaughter, Jane.

McDavid testified Kelly told him Van Allen just wanted money, and that when he told Genson about the tape, Genson was concerned about Van Allen’s age, and Kelly’s team confirmed she met Kelly when she was 18 years old.

McDavid testified he later learned Van Allen’s friend, Keith Murrell, actually had the tape, and the only description he knew of was that it showed a “regular threesome,” not anything else. McDavid claimed both Van Allen and Murrell wanted $200,000 for the tape, and Genson told him to pay it.

Turning to a meeting at a Westin hotel where McDavid was supposed to pay them for the tape, McDavid testified he sent Kelly’s assistant, Milton “June” Brown, also a co-defendant in this trial, to get cash from the bank while he wen to the hotel, where Murrell and Van Allen also would undergo polygraph tests.

McDavid testified Genson told him Murrell failed the test, and had brought a disc copy of the video, rather than the tape itself, so Genson told him to give them $20,000 each. McDavid said that’s when Van Allen “threw a fit,” screaming and crying and saying this isn’t fair.

McDavid said they told Van Allen and Murrell to go back to get the original tape, and after they did, they got another $80,000 each. McDavid testified Genson reviewed the tape first, and told him it showed Kelly, Van Allen, and Kelly’s wife having a threesome.

McDavid testified he didn’t believe there was anything improper about buying back the tapes, because “was Robert and his wife and Lisa van Allen. These were all grown people.”