The Kelly Chronicles

"From the beginning, I thought he was innocent. I never had any doubt they would find him not guilty. And when they read the verdict, I wanted to scream, but I didn't. I had to control my happiness until I got outside."

That's from 23-year-old Keyonia Jones, one of the superfans profiled in an interesting piece from MTV News who attended the R. Kelly trial every day — who watched him make his entrance, who watched him go to lunch, who ran outside the building at the end of each day to watch him leave the courthouse. They left their children with sitters, they took time off work. All to stand by their man.

Attorney Sam Adam Jr. delivered the opening and closing arguments for the defense in the R. Kelly child-porn trial. In so doing, he was noted for throwing in a lot of pop-cultural references, from "The Office" to Gary Coleman to the Wayans brothers and other jokey asides. He explained it to MTV News this way: "If you like someone, you give them the benefit of the doubt. And to give them the pop-culture references, to do those kinds of things, will certainly make you relate with the jury much better. I tried to do it for the young kids with Dave Chappelle; I tried to do it with the middle-aged ones who were more religious — like the preacher's wife — and give her Bible verses; and I tried to do with the older ones with [1950s TV show] 'The Honeymooners' and Ralph Kramden and the 'old squeeze play.' "

And that's how Miley Cyrus found her way into it ...

The arguments in court may have ended, but the dispute about what the R. Kelly trial means is likely to rage for some time.

Pop critic Jim DeRogatis (who broke the story of the tape at the center of the case) and columnist Mary Mitchell have their say in today's Sun-Times.

And Bill Wyman, who has been closely following the case at his blog, Hitsville, says he always insisted you can’t go wrong betting that the rich guy gets off.

But Slate's Josh Levin thinks "it's possible that the jury would've acquitted if the defense had said absolutely nothing."

That girl on the go thinks the main difference between R. Kelly's trial and O.J. Simpson's was that the victim wasn't white.

To an outside observer looking at the case in the context of other celebrity trials, Kelly's acquittal may seem unsurprising. But it's worth noting that in a private last-minute straw poll of the 20 plus reporters in court to cover the case, not one predicted that Kelly would be completely cleared (many did predict a hung jury, however).

Whether you think this says more about the media or the jury probably depends on your own view of the verdict.

In that vein, here's one final, sad footnote: TV reporter Randi Belisomo's personal take on a small moment at the margins of the Kelly trial.

TMZ reports that nearly half of the R. Kelly trial jurors report the ultimate deciding factor in their not-guilty verdict was the absence of the alleged victim from the trial. Even though they "absolutely believed" it was him on the tape.

"Five of the twelve jurors met with reporters immediately after handing down the acquittal," TMZ reports. "They said they just couldn't reach a verdict even though they voted on the hour, every hour because the alleged victim hadn't testified and refused to cooperate. As recently as this morning, we're told, the vote was split nine to three for a not guilty verdict."

Lisa Van Allen, of Georgia, departs the Cook County Criminal Court Building after she testified for the prosecution June 2 in the child pornography trial of R&B singer R. Kelly in Chicago. (AP)

Lisa Van Allen, the star prosecution witness in the R. Kelly trial, says she's surprised by today's verdict.

"I am surprised that they made the decision this quickly," Van Allen tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "My job was to tell the truth and that is what I did. I will never regret that."

R. Kelly leaves the Cook County Court House this afternoon and was found not guilty on all charges. (Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)

The jury has declared R. Kelly is not guilty on all counts levied against him in his child-pornography trial.

On this blog, we've seen numerous comments from readers on both sides of the issues — vigorous defenses of Kelly, vehement attacks on him, too. How will the verdict affect your outlook on Kelly, the man, his music, and the charges brought against him?

Comment below ...

As the dust settles from the R. Kelly not-guilty verdict, Entertainment Weekly rounds up the 50 Biggest Celeb Scandals Since 1985, with Kels leading the list.