Dec 20, 2007 5:29 pm US/Central
R. Kelly Comes To Court, Avoids Arrest
Judge Vincent Gaughan Had Issued Warrant For R&B Star After He Missed Court Wednesday
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
After making an appearance in court Thursday morning, a judge ruled singer R. Kelly can remain free.
As CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports, a warrant for the singer was entered Wednesday after he missed a scheduled appearance before Cook County Criminal Court Judge Vincent Gaughan in his ongoing child pornography case. The warrant was continued until Thursday, when Kelly showed up in court at 8:40 a.m. with his bodyguards.
Kelly left the Cook County courthouse Thursday morning making no comment, but dozens of his fans were more than willing to do the talking for him. Kelly, 40, whose full name is Robert S. Kelly, is charged with child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a girl estimated to be 13 or 14.
"That's a lie man," said Kelly fan Marcus Long. "They're just trying to put another black man behind bars."
The R&B superstar missed his court appearance Wednesday after his tour bus was stopped in Utah for speeding.
If he didn't show up for Thursday's hearing he could have been arrested; the judge still has the option of revoking his bond.
"The judge could tell him you're on house arrest, you know, 24-seven curfew and make him stay at home," said CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller. "He can remove his privileges from leaving the state of Illinois."
Kelly is in the middle of a 45-city tour to promote his latest album and is scheduled to perform this Friday in Chicago at the United Center.
"I don't think he's guilty at all," said Kelly supporter Victor Johnson. "I think they want his money though, that's it! C'mon, man! How many songs has R. Kelly made, how many hits he didn't made, how many females he didn't mess with?"
If convicted of child pornography charges he faces up to 15 years behind bars.
The prosecution's strongest piece of evidence is the video where he allegedly appears having sex with the 13-year-old girl.
"Basically it comes down to looking at the tape and deciding if, in fact, they can identify the victim and if they can identify the perpetrator and it's not going to take a long time to do that," Miller said.
Kelly, who is now 40 years old, was originally charged with child pornography in 2002. After all these years of legal proceedings, Judge Gaughan may finally be able to set a trial date Friday morning.
At the Thursday hearing, Judge Gaughan told Kelly that he was very disappointed by his absence, and now plans to decide whether Kelly's bond should be revoked and he should be required to stay in Chicago. That would create a serious problem for Kelly, who is now in the middle of a 45-city tour to support his album, "Double Up."
Also on Thursday, the Cook County state's attorney's office withdrew a motion for testimony about vein patterns to identify Kelly in the video.
One of R. Kelly's defense lawyers, Ed Genson, said Wednesday that Kelly had missed the earlier hearing because he performed a concert in Sacramento and was "detained because of some snow."
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the bus was traveling at 101 miles per hour.
Utah State Police pulled over Kelly's tour bus in Green River, Utah, to check the bus' log, Genson said. The log details how long a particular driver has been driving a bus. The police ordered Kelly's bus to stop for eight hours because the log had not been properly filled out, Genson said.
The bus went to the nearest motel. "We had a lawyer down there. We cut the eight hours down to three or four," Genson said on Wednesday.
CBS 2's Rafael Romo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages 
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