No further testimonies in the ongoing R Kelly trial yesterday – the defence kick off their case later today – but there was an interesting development anyway after reporter Jim DeRogatis failed to show up for pre-trial hearing regarding his testimony, leading to Judge Vincent Gaughan to threaten to put out an arrest warrant for the journalist.
As previously reported, it was DeRogatis who originally handed over a copy of the sex tape at the heart of this trial to the authorities, after a copy was left in his mail box. He claims he doesn't know who sent him the video. Kelly's defence have asked to question him as part of their case, but he has so far resisted, with the legal rep for his employer – the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper – arguing that DeRogatis' testimony would be irrelevant to the case, and that he is protected by Illinois law and First Amendment rights that mean he doesn't have to reveal the identities of any sources.
As also previously reported, Gaughan ruled last week that while DeRogatis is legally allowed to protect his sources, those laws don't mean he can avoid testifying altogether. When he failed to show up for that scheduled meeting at the court house yesterday, Gaughan again rejected the Sun-Times arguments regarding DeRogatis not having to testify, saying Kelly's lawyers wanted to know whether the journalist had tampered with the sex tape before handing it to police, and that that line of questioning would not involve the revealing of any sources.
Although at one point Gaughan seemed to be close to issuing that arrest warrant, he eventually decided to give the journalist the benefit of the doubt – possibly because DeRogatis reportedly claimed by phone that the subpoena ordering him to the courthouse had been issued incorrectly. However he has ordered the reporter to be in court today, and, unless the Chicago-Sun legal team can win a quick appeal on Gaughan's earlier ruling on DeRogatis' requirement to testify, the judge expects the media man to face questioning in court later this week.