Jury selection got under way in the R. Kelly case Friday, but the media was barred from entering the courtroom--a mistake law-enforcement officials blamed on "first-day jitters."At 11:30 a.m., about 150 prospective jurors were ushered into the courtroom, where the R&B superstar waited for them at the defense table. According to people inside the courtroom, Kelly, 41, bowed his head and offered the crowd a soft "good afternoon, everybody" after Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan introduced him."As you know, this is a high-profile case," Gaughan said, according to court transcripts. "And if you don't know, god love you, you're probably the only person on earth that doesn't."Gaughan began to read the indictment, a detailed list of 14 charges against Kelly. The document has been kept from public view since Kelly's arrest in 2002, despite a legal challenge from the media.As the document was read in the public for the first time, reporters waited to be admitted outside the courtroom. When it became apparent the proceedings had begun, the journalists--representing local, national and international news agencies--reminded law-enforcement officials that they had a right to attend the selection process.Law-enforcement officials said the media had adequate representation inside because three sketch artists already had been admitted. They also claimed they had allowed a few spectators and two Kelly bodyguards inside the courtroom, thus meeting the legal burden of conducting a public trial.The reporters notified prominent local attorney Terry Sullivan, who is serving as the judge's media liaison during the case. Sullivan said he asked a deputy to pass the judge a note asking him to halt the proceedings so the media could enter.The judge's response, according to Sullivan, was: "No, not right now."Gaughan later told reporters that he had not be informed the press had been locked out."Did you see me read any note?" Gaughan angrily asked a TV reporter who had been barred from the proceedings and could not have possibly known what the judge did or did not read.The news agencies were offered free copies of the unsealed indictment and given an opportunity to purchase the transcript of the proceedings from the court reporter for $142.20 apiece.The media was not allowed back into the courtroom until the prospective jurors and Kelly had left. Instead, journalists were herded into an area about 15 yards from the courtroom and told to keep conversations to a minimum.Law-enforcement officials later acknowledged they had made a mistake and become the victims of the court's own stringent rules."To be honest, it was first-day jitters," Cook County Sheriff's Deputy Lt. Kenneth Promisco told reporters said. Regardless of the reason, an attorney for several local news agencies--including the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times and Associated Press--has notified court officials of their objections to the media's exclusion."The press is the representative of those who can't be there," said Damon Dunn, who represents the three media groups. This is not the first time Gaughan has barred the press from his courtroom. The judge held a series of secret hearings in April, despite a legal challenge from the news agencies.The judge said he kept the April proceedings private in order to protect Kelly's right to a fair trial and prevent possible contamination of the jury pool. There is no legal basis for excluding reporters from jury selection, experts said."The media is entitled to access," said Don Craven, general counsel for the Illinois Press Association. "Could it be first-day jitters? Yes. But given the history of this case, it makes me a little suspicious."
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