New Baby Pacifies R Kelly, Trial From Hell Gets Continue... Again!

This Time It's The People Who Aren't Ready To Go Foward

R Kelly's trial will remain trapped in the closet... for now! After being charged with child pornography against a 14-year-old some five years ago, a Cook County judge has postponed his trial one mo'gain because the lead prosecutor recently had a baby.

The Black R&B star's trial had been scheduled to commence September 17. Kelly's attorneys haven't conceded that he is on the tape, saying his likeness may have been computer generated. They have also tried to raise doubts about the identity and age of the girl.

The case has been hit with delay after delay. Since being charged, Kelly has had six best-selling albums and three nationwide tours.

Kelly was charged in 2002 and is accused of engaging in videotaped sex acts. A new date hasn't been set.

R Kelly arrives in court to answer charges over video 'that shows him having sex with under-age girl'

Singer R Kelly appeared in court today - after six years of repeated delays - on charges that he videotaped himself having sex with a girl as young as 13.

Kelly, who attended a pretrial hearing in Chicago yesterday but did not address the court, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The 41-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The Grammy-winning singer is glad the wait is over, his spokesman said.

"Every waking moment, he's always had this hanging over his head," he said. "He's confident that when all the evidence comes out he'll be shown not to be guilty of any crime".

Singer R. Kelly arrives in court for the first day of jury selection in his child pornography trial at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago

Prosecutors claim the videotape was made between 1998 and late 2000, and that the girl was born in September 1984.

Kelly was indicted on pornography charges in 2002 after the tape surfaced and was sold illegally on the streets and the internet.

The centrepiece of the trial is likely to be the video footage, which Judge Vincent Gaughan ruled may be shown in open court.

However, even the alleged victim, now 23, says the girl in the video is not her.

"How is there not reasonable doubt when the two people say it's not them?" said one observer, Chicago lawyer Michael Helfand.

But Mr Helfand conceded that it is unclear what supporting evidence the prosecution might present.

Police and prosecutors said their investigation, including interviews with about 50 witnesses, prove Kelly and an under-age girl were on the tape, and that FBI forensics experts had determined the tape was authentic.

The 41-year-old rapper faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted

News organisations have moved for the right to see sealed court records and transcripts.

Judge Vincent Gaughan said at yesterday's hearing he would not issue a ruling on that until next Friday.

Prosecutors and Kelly's defence lawyers oppose media access because, they say, a news frenzy will make it harder to pick jurors and to guarantee their impartiality during the trial.

Kelly has settled three lawsuits accusing him of having sex with under-age girls, filed in 1997, 2001 and 2002.

In the third, the woman claimed that she began having sex with Kelly when she was 16, and that he forced her to have an abortion.

In 2003, Kelly was arrested in Florida on child pornography charges after investigators said they found photos of him having sex with a girl. Charges were dropped after a judge ruled that detectives had illegally seized the photographs from a digital camera in his home.

Documents show Kelly secretly married the singer Aaliyah in 1994, when she was 15. The marriage was later annulled by her parents; Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001.

The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Kells Messed With a 21-Year-Old?! Isn't That Rather Old for Him?

R. Kelly ''Crossed The Line W/ My Daughter,'' Says Former Publicist's Husband
written by Lauren Carter

After the resignation of Kelly's longtime publicist, Regina Daniels, her husband, music retailer George Daniels, speaks out about Kells' inappropriate relationship with their daughter.

"He crossed the line with my daughter," Daniels told local Los Angeles radio station KJLH. "It didn't get to the extreme of that [sex tape] video or else I wouldn't be here, if you know what I'm talking about."

In November, Regina Daniels released a press release indicating that Kelly "crossed a line that forever altered the scope of our relationship." Now, George Daniels tells KJLH that Kells took advantage of his then 21-year-old daughter.

"When you're 21, and if you've been there already like I've been many years ago, you're still 15 to 16 mentally," Daniels added. "You're vulnerable."

Daniels and his wife ultimately got the truth from their daughter after much hearsay and speculation, but when Daniels questioned Kelly on the issue, he got a different story.

"He denied it," Daniels said.
"He lied to me to my face."

Despite the private nature of the issue, Daniels said he has decided to speak out for the sake of other families.

R. Kelly sex tape payoff scandal emerges as porn trial finally begins...

Sources familiar with the matter tell the Sun-Times the secret hearings dealt with the potential trial testimony of the Atlanta woman, who allegedly had a threesome with Kelly and the girl who appears in the video for which he faces charges. The Atlanta woman can identify the girl and testify she was underage at the time, sources said.

The Atlanta woman received immunity from state and federal prosecution in exchange for her testimony, sources said. Federal immun- ity was necessary to protect her from charges of transporting child pornography across state lines.

During the April hearings, Gaughan was told that the Kelly aide offered the Atlanta woman money for a sex tape featuring Kelly. At one point, the aide arranged for her to take a polygraph test to determine whether she was telling the truth about having the tape, sources said.

Eventually, the woman received money and arranged for the tape to be sent to Kelly’s aide, who is not an attorney, sources said.

It is not clear whether Kelly knew about the alleged deal.