Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A mystery witness in the R. Kelly child pornography trial arrived in Chicago Wednesday night and his testimony could turn the case upside down. This witness came out of nowhere, but could deal a powerful blow to the prosecution's case.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports that the witness has thrown a monkey wrench into court proceedings in the Kelly trial. Everything is now on hold while both prosecutors and defense attorneys find out what impact the man, who rushed to Chicago less than 12 hours after he surfaced, will have on the case.

He called Kelly's attorneys just after 9 a.m. Wednesday and flew to Chicago Wednesday night after literally stopping the trial in its tracks.

R. Kelly and everyone else left at noon, before the anxiously anticipated testimony of the woman who claimed she was part of a reported threesome with Kelly and the alleged victim in the case.

That woman was once the singer's friend, but today she was expected to testify against him. She's a single mother from Atlanta who reportedly would tell jurors that she had a sexual threesome with Kelly and the underage girl who's in the infamous sex tape at the center of the trial.

But the trial adjourned abruptly on Wednesday when the defense announced a witness who might possibly be called to undermine that woman's testimony.

Sources told CBS 2 that the last-minute defense witness is a man from Atlanta who might be the ex-boyfriend of the woman who was supposed to testify Wednesday afternoon.

With jurors out of the courtroom, Criminal Court Judge Vincent Gaughan said defense lawyer Sam Adam Sr. had told him that morning of a new witness -- not on the defense witness list -- who had just come to light.

CBS 2 got the exclusive video as the unidentified defense witness arrived at Midway at 7 p.m. Wednesday and was hustled away by aides to the defense. CBS 2 did not try to speak with him, mindful of the judge's ban on interviews with potential witnesses. 

But cameras watched as the mystery witness was hustled in a car and driven away. He then reportedly huddled with Kelly's defense attorneys, who aren't sure themselves exactly what he has to say and what proof he'll offer.

"I have no idea what's going on," Judge Vincent Gaughan said before adjourning for the day on Wednesday. "It might be the impeachment of the witness," claiming to have been involved in the threesome.

Gaughan ordered Kelly's attorneys to speak with the man Wednesday night, then fax prosecutors a summary of what he has to say at 2 a.m. Thursday morning. Prosecutors would get their turn to speak with him at 7a.m. Thursday.

CBS 2 reported exclusively Tuesday night that defense attorneys claim the woman was trying to extort money from Kelly with false claims about that sexual threesome and even sought to have her arrested.

The mystery prosecution witness reportedly will claim she got tens of thousands of dollars from Kelly's people to return a tape of the threesome.

But she will also be questioned about what sources close to the case call another botched extortion attempt, which resulted in what prosecutors said, in court, were "Mr. Adam's attempts to have her arrested."

It's not clear which of Kelly's attorneys, Sam Adam Sr. or Sam Adam Jr., they were talking about or what grounds they wanted her arrested.

On Wednesday, defense attorneys said they needed to speak with their new witness before the woman testified and the judge agreed.

The defense is hoping to discredit a woman who was to be a key part of the case against Kelly – the only prosecution witness claiming to have actually seen sexual contact between Kelly and the young teen.

A dozen witnesses have testified that they recognize the girl since prosecutors began presenting evidence last week. Most say they also recognized Kelly as the man on the tape.

On Wednesday, a high school basketball coach testified that one of his former players is the young female who appears on the sex tape.

Jacques Conway said he recognized his former player, in part, by a distinctive cross worn by the female participant on the graphic 27-minute videotape. He said he had seen his former player wear the necklace.

Kelly attorney Sam Adam Jr. asked Conway about the alleged victim's character.

"At any time did you see anything that would lead you to believe she would sell her body for money?" Adam asked.

"No," Conway responded.

The man on the videotape is seen handing money to the female participant.

A former middle school basketball coach who said he got to know the alleged victim through some of her friends, also testified Wednesday that she was on the tape.

Joel Rhea told jurors he recognized her "facial features, the forehead, the smile." He estimated she was around 14 or 15 when the video was made.
Under cross examination, defense attorney Marc Martin questioned Rhea about how he could have known the alleged victim well enough to identify her years later, noting she was just one of several hundred students he knew.

Rhea said the girl's forehead was especially distinctive.

"Everyone gave her a hard time because she had a big forehead," Rhea responded. "We would joke about her forehead, that she had a big forehead."

"You were joking about a 7th grade girl having a big forehead?" Martin snapped back, sounding incredulous.

"The kids were," Rhea said.

Also Wednesday, the judge scolded prosecutors several times for arriving back in the courtroom late after breaks.

"Don't do it again or there will be sanctions," said the visibly angry Gaughan, a Vietnam veteran with a reputation as a stern, no-nonsense judge. "That's selfish."

The mystery defense witness couldn't actually testify until the defense started to call witnesses, but what he tells them Wednesday night is expected to add to ammunition they were already planning to use perhaps as soon as Thursday.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker, the Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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