Sunday 1 June 2008

FBI expert authenticates R Kelly sex tape

An FBI video forensics expert has dismissed claims that the tape at the centre of the R Kelly trial could have been faked. George Skaluba told jurors that the video appears to depict "real people in a real environment" and, when asked about the possibility of the tape being doctored, said it would be "very, very time consuming and very hard".

Another video forensics expert, Grant Fredericks, also testified on Thursday. Fredericks showed the court in Cook County, Chicago, several frames that show a dark spot on the back of the man in the video, which the prosecution alleges is Kelly. He compared the frames from the video with photographs taken after the singer's arrest in 2002 that show a dark mole on his back. He told the court: "It's in the exact same position, at about the same size." The defence had originally argued that the man in the video did not have a mole.












Kelly faces 14 counts of child pornography stemming from the video that allegedly shows the singer having sex with an underage girl. The mystery witness who emerged on Wednesday was still being questioned by Kelly's team as of yesterday. The man, whose identity remains unknown, said he had information that could help the defence. If found guilty, Kelly faces up to 15 years in prison.



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