Jury selection begins in R. Kelly's child pornography trial

It probably behooved the R&B superstar to make as good a first impression as possible with these particular men and women: A dozen of them are expected to end up on a jury that could find him guilty and send him to prison for up to 15 years.

Known for sexually charged hits like "Bump N' Grind," Kelly, 41, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he videotaped himself having sex with a girl as young as 13.

After introducing Kelly to the jurors on Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan read the 14-count indictment against him. The initial session with potential jurors in Gaughan's stately, colonnade courtroom lasted only about 30 minutes, and reporters were not allowed in; one court official said there weren't enough seats.

Some of the potential jurors looked uncomfortable, and at least a few placed their hands over their eyes as the judge read some of the more graphic sections of the indictments, said Verna Sadock, a sketch artist who was in the room.

Each count is only a few sentences long and does not go into details about the allegations or possible evidence.

Earlier in the day, Kelly, dressed in a silver-blue suit and gold tie, sat expressionless in court. But the Grammy-winning artist looked more relaxed as he addressed the jurors, Sadock said.

The potential jurors -some carrying bags and coats, many looking serious and even glum -later filed out of the fifth-floor courtroom to fill out questionnaires for the next stage of jury selection. The questionnaires were not made public.

There was no afternoon session scheduled Friday and jurors were due back in court Monday morning.

Before jury selection began Friday, Gaughan denied a defense motion to again postpone the trial because of intense publicity surrounding the case, appearing to accept arguments from the prosecution that jury selection could weed out any tainted jurors.