R Kelly prepares to face his accusers

By Iain Mackenzie
Newsbeat US reporter, in Chicago

Among the hundreds of defendants arriving at Cook County Courthouse in Chicago this week, only one has their own private fenced-off entrance.

R Kelly is facing 14 counts of child pornography in court

R Kelly, the grammy award-winning R&B star, turns up each morning, surrounded by his entourage, chased by the media.

He is facing child pornography charges after a video emerged, supposedly showing him having sex with an underage girl.

The singer denies it's him in the tape. He has maintained his innocence since the case began in 2002.

Since then the trial has been delayed many times. Once because the judge injured himself falling from a ladder. On another occasion R Kelly was taken to hospital suffering appendicitis.

After all the false starts, the star is finally getting the chance to face his accusers.

Finger pointing

However there will be no victim pointing their finger across the courtroom.

The girl who is said to appear in the video, who is now 23, refuses to say if she is the girl on the tape.

That is the reason R Kelly is facing 14 counts of child pornography and not statutory rape charges.

Details were read to the 150 potential jurors by judge Vincent Gaughan at the start of the trial

From that large group, lawyers must select 16 people, 12 jurors to decide the case and four in reserve.

R Kelly's defence team has tried to have the trial postponed, claiming that media coverage will make it impossible for their client to get a fair hearing.

Many ordinary people here in Chicago agree that it may be hard finding jurors who haven't already formed an opinion about the singer.

In order to make sure R Kelly gets a fair hearing, lawyers from both sides will spend several days cross-examining potential jury members.

Child pornography

The first group to go through selection were asked questions about where they get their news and how familiar they are with the case.

R Kelly turns up each morning, surrounded by his entourage

They were also quizzed on their attitudes to sex.

People will be weeded-out over the course of the week, as jurors have to be agreed on by both sets of lawyers.

On Monday three were selected. In a case where race may also figure, they were one black man, one white man and one black woman.

Each potential juror was asked to look at R Kelly and state whether they would be able to give him a fair trial.

Jury selection is expected to last until the end of the week. After that the full trial will begin.