DeRo No-Shows R. Kelly Trial, Judge Threatens To Issue Arrest Warrant

Chicago Sun-Times music writer Jim DeRogatis did not show up at a Cook County court this morning to testify in the R. Kelly trial, despite a judge ordering his appearance and questioning on what he did with the sex tape at the heart of the trial between the time he acquired it and the time he handed it over to authorities. Sources have told the Chicago Tribune–which has been all over this aspect of the story today–that DeRogatis never received the subpoena issued to him by Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan, although the judge has insisted that he told prosecutors and defense attorneys to let DeRo and his paper-appointed lawyer, Damon Dunn, know that they had a date this morning. DeRogatis has been threatened with arrest, although his lawyers say that he’s in the clear because there’s an appeal sort of pending. I say “sort of” because while it was filed, Dunn and his team of lawyers apparently filed it to the wrong Chicago court. (Insert joke about times being so bad for newspapers, they have to get their legal assistance from El ads here.)

“You filed it in the wrong court,” Gaughan snapped. “A notice of appeal has to be filed at the appellate court.” Gaughan also rehashed his finding that DeRogatis is not protected under the law as a reporter because he is a “a material witness to a crime” and is not protecting a source.

In his opinion issued Monday, Gaughan said the defense could not ask about the source of the tape and that Kelly attorney Marc Martin said the defense had no plans to ask about the source.

“You’re protecting something that nobody is after,” Gaughan said to Dunn.

But Dunn argued that the protection of a source is at issue and offered his motion for appeal to the court and to all parties present.

Court was adjourned so all parties could read the appeal, which had still not been officially filed.

In addition to the normal first-amendment issues of protecting a source, part of the issue with the questioning involves Kelly’s lawyers believing that DeRogatis has “extreme prejudice,” presumably because he wrote about the sex-abuse allegations surrounding their client two years before acquiring the tape; Robert Christgau has a clear-headed piece about the slippery slope the lawyers are sliding down as far as throwing around the term when it comes to DeRogatis being morally outraged by allegations of pedophilia–and not, one would assume, of Kelly’s music, even if he did say that Kells was about to have the “King of R & B” title taken away from him last week. This story is obviously still developing, and I’d recommend hitting refresh on that Trib link below this paragraph for the most up-to-date updates.

UPDATE: He’s been ordered to appear in court tomorrow morning–although he can avoid it by taking the fifth.

R. Kelly Trial: Gavel to Gavel [Chicago Tribune]