Voting Poll
Who Will Win The Democratic Nomination?

Senator Barack Obama
Senator Hillary Clinton

Newsletter

Subscr
Unsubscr
Childhood pal IDs girl in sex tape at R. Kelly trial
Related Articles
21:16
21
May
2008
 Rating 0/5 [0 Votes]  Views: 63
Print E-mail Comments 0
A childhood friend of the alleged victim in the R. Kelly child pornography case testified Wednesday that she recognizes her longtime friend as the one in the explicit video at the center of the trial.

R. Kelly is accused of taping himself having sex with an underage girl. He says it wasn't him.

The R&B superstar is accused of videotaping himself having sex with a girl as young as 13.

His attorneys have said Kelly is not on the tape and the alleged victim, who is now 23 years old, also denies she is the person in the video.

Prosecutors showed the footage within hours of opening statements Tuesday and now they are working to prove their claim that Kelly and the alleged victim are indeed in the video.

On Wednesday, Simha Jamison, 24, said she and the alleged victim were best friends for about 10 years until their junior year in high school. She knows her best friend's face like she knows "the back of her own hand," she said.

She testified she and her friend visited Kelly at his recording studio and at a Chicago basketball court dozens of times starting when they were around the age of 12.

Her friend first introduced her to Kelly as "her godfather," Jamison said, adding that the singer frequently gave her friend cash gifts -- "no less than $100 and no more than $500."

She said the two also visited the North Side home where authorities say the sex tape was filmed. Jamison said she saw the tape in 2002 and again just before testifying.

Defense attorneys planned to cross-examine her later on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old Kelly, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 15 years if convicted.

The prosecution's first few witnesses were geared toward identifying the alleged victim on the tape that prosecutors say was made between January 1, 1998, and November 1, 2000.

Jamison's father, Peter Thomas, testified that the alleged victim's involvement in the video was the talk of their neighborhood. When his daughter heard about it in 2002, he said she would cry herself to sleep but would not discuss it.

He watched the video for the first time before testifying Wednesday and identified the girl, guessing that she must have been around 14 or 15 in the video. Video Watch a witness's reaction to seeing the tape in court »

Earlier Wednesday, John Kelly, a retired investigator with the Cook County state's attorney's office, testified that a room in a Chicago home once owned by the singer strongly resembles the distinctive room in the video.

John Kelly said he visited the sprawling red brick home on Chicago's North Side in 2002 and saw what he described as a "hot tub room" with the same log-cabin theme as the room in the video.


During cross examination, the defense countered that Kelly moved out of the home at least several weeks before the investigator arrived.

R. Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for the gospel-tinged "I Believe I Can Fly," and also is known for such songs as "Bump N' Grind," "Ignition," and "Trapped in the Closet," a multipart saga about the sexual secrets of a lively and ever-expanding cast of characters.
World
Jamaican sprinters shatter world record
sain Bolt won his third gold medal of the Olympics and broke his third world record as Jamaica raced to victory in the men’s 4x100m relay.
Tavis Smiley's Haterology on Barack Obama
National
FBI looks into reports of threat on Obama
Federal authorities are looking into reports that a man arrested with rifles, ammunition and drugs in his truck may have made threats against Barack Obama, officials said Monday.
The End of White Flight
Business
Forbes Lists the Top Earning African American Ce..
Oprah Winfrey tops a Forbes' Celebrity 100 Power list that ranks the highest paid celebrities.. » FULL STORY
Sean “Diddy” Combs Becomes King
Politics
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick rejects plea deal
A prosecutor made a surprising offer Friday to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick: resign by Sept. 3 in exchange for the dismissal of one of two assault charges.
Bill Clinton is no brother
Sports
Bolt sets world record in 100 meters
NEW YORK (AP)—Like lightning out of nowhere, Usain Bolt is now the world’s fastest man.
Patriots bring back Moss
Education
Have black colleges outlived their usefulness?
The Lincoln Review, a Washington-based black think tank, published an article titled "What Does the.. » FULL STORY
MORRIS BROWN ALUMNI GIVING AT ALL TIME HIGH
Health
Building Strength and Muscle without Illegal Sub..
ARA) - Every week the media comes out with a new story of another amateur or professional athlete using steroids.
Kennedy's Doctors Find Brain Tumor
Editorial
Blacks Influence In The MS House of Representati..
Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the Mississippi House of.. » FULL STORY
Ransom Notes: Obama represents New National Order
Entertainment
No time to lose
You have a year to give a wedding gift or return shoes to Zappos.com, 90 days to pick up dry cleaning, and a week to return a DVD. But how long does a new mother get to lose the baby weight before people start, you know, talking?
Childhood pal IDs girl in sex tape at R. Kelly t..
Specials
BET, TV One Plan To Cover The Denver Convention
With Sen. Barack Obama poised to make history as the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party, BET and TV One will significantly step up their coverage of the Democratic National Convention in August.
Hi-Tech
Obama loses Silicon Valley to Clinton: Is anyone..
It must have come as a surprise to the boisterous Barack Obama supporters who were flagging.. » FULL STORY
Bill Gates on Making Capitalism Even More Creative
Most Popular
Top Rated
Michael Vick Sentenced
January 1, 2008 - 07:35
RICHMOND, Va. (Dec. 10) - Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy that involved gambling and killing pit bulls.
Black respected doctors, brothers..
Fed Move May Not Change Mortgage ..
Rev. Wright delivers spirited spe..
Obama denounces rhetoric but stan..
Michael Jackson In-dept Interview
Forbes Lists the Top Earning Afri..
Iowa Democrats decide: Obama wins