Jennifer Hudson Weeps on Witness Stand

William Balfour murder trial starts with emotional testimony
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 23, 2012 3:35 PM CDT
Jennifer Hudson Weeps on Witness Stand
In this Sept. 27, 2011 file photo, singer and actress Jennifer Hudson speaks in Chicago.   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

Jennifer Hudson broke down and wept on the witness stand today as she testified in the trial of William Balfour, the man accused of murdering Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Hudson said she told her sister Julia "over and over again not to marry William. We did not like how he treated her, and I didn’t like how he treated my nephew.” Dressed down in a black dress without makeup, Hudson dried her eyes with tissues and asked for time to collect herself.

In the old oak-and-granite Chicago courtroom, Hudson also recounted how she sensed something amiss when her mother didn't text her that fateful morning in 2008. Shown a photo of her mother, Hudson said only, "That's my mommy." Earlier on, a prosecutor said Balfour had threatened the Hudsons if Julia ever left him. But public defender Amy Thompson said no DNA evidence links Balfour to the crime. "This is not your guy," she said. "William Balfour is not the killer, but they have already told the press they had their man." (More Jennifer Hudson stories.)

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