R. Kelly Remains Calm As Defense Rests Its Case

Defense attorneys in the R. Kelly child pornography trial rested their case on Monday, June 9, after calling several of the underage girl’s relatives as key witnesses last week.

The girl’s relatives testified that the person in the video was not their relative, right after the other four family members, called by the prosecution, declared the girl in the video was their relative.

The defense also called a forensic expert who testified that a black mark seen on the man’s back in the video actually seemed to be a glitch on the tape and not the mole that the prosecution said was the same with the one Kelly had. The expert said the mole did not appear all the time throughout the video, but only at certain moments, and that proved it was actually a video distortion caused by multiple copies of the tape.

Jurors sat in court for only a few minutes, before Judge Vincent Gaughan sent them home. They are expected back in court Tuesday when prosecutors will call two rebuttal witnesses to testify. The judge announced that closing arguments were likely to begin Thursday.

Kelly pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of videotaping himself while having sexual intercourse with a female the prosecution says was aged 13. The singer looked relaxed and calm as defense attorney Ed Genson rested the case without caling any more witnesses for the day.