Defense Team In R. Kelly Child Porn Trial Rests

R. Kelly's defense team rested their case on Monday (June 9) after calling 12 witnesses over two days of testimony.

The witnesses Kelly's lawyers called to the stand included three relatives of the alleged victim who testified that it wasn't their relative who appeared in the sex tape at the center of the case.

The defense focused on three key elementals throughout their presentation: R. Kelly not being the man in the tape, the alleged victim not the girl in the tape, and the tape possibly being altered.

The prosecution rested their case last Monday after calling more than 20 witnesses over a seven day span. Their case consisted of testimony from several childhood friends of the alleged victim and four of her relatives who identified her as the female on the graphic, 27-minute video, as well as a woman who claimed to have engaged in a threesome with the victim and Kelly on three different occasions.

Kelly and the alleged victim, who both deny being on the tape, never testified.

The prosecution also brought in video analysts who testified that the tape was authentic and would be nearly impossible to alter. However, a video expert for the defense refuted that testimony, claiming that the tape could be altered rather easily, and that the alleged mole seen in the tape that would help identify the man as Kelly is not there.

According to the Associated Press, jurors sat in court for just minutes Monday morning before Judge Vincent Gaughan sent them home, saying they would have to return Tuesday to hear two rebuttal witnesses for the prosecution.

41-year-old Kelly has pleaded not guilty to child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a female who prosecutors say was at young as 13.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

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