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A video expert dealt a blow to R. Kelly's defense Thursday by showing jurors a dark spot on the back of the man in a sex videotape -- a spot that "corresponds" with a mole on Kelly's back.
The revelation appeared to undermine the defense's claim that the man on the sex tape does not have a mole on his back, as Kelly has. The R&B superstar is on trial for child pornography, accused of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl.
Lisa Van Allen, 27, is the prosecution's star witness, expected to testify that she had three-way sex with R. Kelly and the girl shown in the video. Allen's former boyfriend Damon Pryor (inset) is a witness for the defense.
"Robert Kelly is not on that tape," defense lawyer Sam Adam Jr. said last week in opening statements. On the tape, the man's "back is illuminated, and there is no mole."
But when video expert Grant Fredericks played the sex tape in slow motion on a giant screen Thursday, a 17-frame clip of the tape showed the man with his back turned, a dark spot clearly visible.
Comparing the video with police photos of Kelly's unclothed back, Fredericks said, "There's something dark there on his back in that position."
The location of the dark spot appeared to match the location of the mole on Kelly's back -- to the left of the spine, a few inches above the waist.
Fredericks said it was "impossible" the tape had been digitally manipulated. He said it would take a professional 44 years to alter every frame of the tape digitally.
Cross-examining Fredericks, defense lawyer Ed Genson said the spot was unclear in some frames and could be a glitch. "It comes and goes," Genson said.
But Fredericks said it could not be a glitch, adding the spot "tracks with him and moves with his body."
Also Thursday, FBI video expert George Skaluba testified there was no evidence the images on the sex tape were generated or altered by a computer. Skaluba's analysis showed the tape was a copy and "probably at least several generations away" from the original, he said.
Thursday's technical evidence took the place of expected testimony from a woman who allegedly had a three-way sexual encounter with Kelly and the underage girl who prosecutors say appears on the videotape. The testimony of the woman, Lisa Van Allen, was delayed because of a last-minute defense witness who, according to the judge, could undermine her credibility.
The defense witness, Damon Pryor, flew in to Chicago on Wednesday night after telling defense lawyers he had information about Van Allen. Prosecutors began taking his deposition Thursday morning, but the interview was not completed, and Pryor refused to provide his Social Security number for a background check, prosecutors said.
