A surprise defense witness brought proceedings to a halt yesterday in the
R. Kelly child pornography trial before key prosecution witnesses could take the
stand, according to media reports today.
The potential witness is a single mother from Atlanta who claimed to have had
a sexual threesome with Kelly and the alleged underage victim.
"We never knew about this witness until approximately 9 o'clock this morning,
when the witness called us," Kelly attorney Sam Adam Sr. told the judge
yesterday.
The unexpected delay came after two witnesses testified earlier yesterday
that they could identify a female who appears on a sex tape at the center of
case, bolstering prosecution arguments that she was under age at the time.
Adam defended yesterday that Kelly's image may be computer-generated.
"I have no idea what's going on," Judge Vincent Gaughan said in court. "It
might be the impeachment of the witness (for prosecutors)." Testimony would
resume this morning, he said.
Kelly, 41, has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of child pornography for
allegedly videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl. He faces up to
15 years in prison if convicted.
Although Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for the gospellike song "I Believe I Can
Fly," his biggest hits are raunchy ballads like "Ignition" and his current
single, "Hair Braider." He is scheduled to release a new album in
July.
