R. Kelly’s trial date is very soon, and the singer has reportedly fired half of his legal team.
According to CNN, half of his legal team, attorneys Steve Greenberg and Michael Leonard, requested to withdraw from the case with a court filing last week.
Greenberg told the news outlet that he felt that Kelly was “insistent that we work with people who we felt would be rendering in effective assistance as counsel.”
Leonard also told the news outlet that they were “not comfortable giving responsibility to those who haven’t tried a lot of federal criminal jury cases.”
Greenberg has been the face of Kelly’s legal team since the beginning.
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But Kelly’s remaining attorneys says Kelly actually fired them.
Tom Farinella and Nicole Blank Becker, told the court that Kelly had fired Greenberg and Leonard last week before the attorneys had requested to withdraw from the case.
“He (Kelly) does not wish to have Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Leonard represent him,” Farinella said. “We’re prepared to move forward with the trial so it will not affect the administration of the court’s calendar or the trial date.”