Reporter Ordered to Testify at R. Kelly Trial

Judge Vincent Gaughan has ordered a Chicago Sun-Times reporter to testify at the child pornography trial of R&B singer R. Kelly about where he got the videotape that has been used as the key evidence in the case. The judge rejected arguments from the newspaper that Jim DeRogatis' actions should be privileged under the First Amendment.

The ruling came at the end of a week of testimony that seemed to poke holes in Kelly's defense and one in which court was suspended for a day while the court waited to hear from a mystery witness.

On Wednesday, the trial was suddenly suspended after the defense said a surprise witness had contacted them with information in the case. The witness was being flown to Chicago from out of state to be questioned by the defense and the prosecution, the judge said, although he said he was not sure what the witness would testify about.

Speculation was that the witness was going to contradict the testimony of a later prosecution witness -- an Atlanta woman expected to tell the court she had a three-way sexual encounter with Kelly and the young girl in the videotape.

Videotape Experts Testify

Also last week, an FBI expert testified that the videotape in question had not been altered, as claimed by the defense. George Skaluba told jurors that the video appears to depict "real people in a real environment" and not a fake.

Kelly's attorneys had also told the jury that a mole that the singer has had on his back near his spine since birth would prove that it was not him in the videotape with the young girl.

However, forensics expert Grant Fredericks testified on Thursday showing several frames from the videotape that seemed to show a dark spot on the back of the man in the video at the exact location of a mole shown on photographs of Kelly taken after his arrest in 2002.

Testimony will continue this week.

See Also:
Judge Says Reporter Must Testify at R. Kelly Trial
R. Kelly's Mole Allegedly Spotted on Sex Videotape
FBI Expert Authenticates R Kelly Sex Tape

Earlier Articles:
Jurors Shown Sex Tape in R. Kelly Trial
R. Kelly's Child Porn Trial Begins

Background:
R. Kelly's Arrest and Mug Shot

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