(CNN) The federal racketeering and sex trafficking case of singer R. Kelly in New York City will be heard by an anonymous jury that will be partially sequestered, according to a judge's ruling. US District Judge Ann M. Donnelly granted a motion sought by federal prosecutors for an anonymous jury in a ruling issued on October 8 and unsealed on Friday. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York had argued for jurors to be kept anonymous , pointing in part to Kelly's alleged efforts to influence witnesses and jurors in his 2008 state trial in Illinois. Prosecutors have alleged in court filings that Kelly persuaded multiple people to give false testimony before a grand jury in 2002. Kelly's attorneys opposed an anonymous jury, saying prosecutors had not established that Kelly nor his associates presented a risk to jurors.

Source: CNN November 01, 2020 21:00 UTC