Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A mystery defense witness showed up at the R. Kelly trial Thursday, but it wasn't to testify. In fact, he got into a little hot water with the judge.

The witness has already thrown a monkey wrench into court proceedings. He could be Kelly's best defense; he could be the one to blow apart the prosecutions strongest witness, the woman who is expected to testify that Kelly had sex with the alleged victim.

The man made the judge angry Thursday when he refused to give prosecutors his Social Security Number. With that number, prosecutors could conduct a background check and since he's a last-minute surprise witness for the defense, prosecutors want to know everything about him that they can.

We don't know why the mystery man refused to give his Social Security Number or if he's trying to hide something, but the judge isn't happy.

While we don't know the name of the man who came to court Thursday morning, we do know he's making the prosecution a little nervous.

He's told Kelly's attorneys that he has information that could impeach the testimony of the prosecution's star witness. That star witness is a woman who reportedly claims she had a sexual threesome with Kelly and the underage girl who's on the video tape that's at the heart of Kelly's child pornography trial.

Prosecutors had planned to put the woman on the witness stand Wednesday and again Thursday, but the mystery man, much to the delight of the defense, has been holding up the show.

"He may say something that will impeach her and the defense is hoping that whatever it is it will keep her off the witness stand," CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said.

CBS 2 News captured exclusive pictures of the mystery man last night, arriving at Midway International Airport. We now know he spent the evening being interviewed by defense attorneys, then they emailed a summary of the interview to prosecutors.

Thursday morning the man spent 40 minutes being interviewed by prosecutors, but the session came to a halt when he refused to give his Social Security Number. Defense attorneys argued that the man has a constitutional right to privacy, but the judge wasn't buying that and said "if he doesn't give you his Social Security Number, he's in major trouble."

Other witnesses did testify Thursday, among them a video expert from the FBI, who testified that the sex tape is a copy of an original tape, but that it had not been tampered with.

When Thursday's testimony concludes, prosecutors will continue interviewing the mystery defense witness. It's not clear what action the judge would take against him if he doesn't give prosecutors his Social Security Number.

But so far during the trial, the judge has stripped the credentials of two reporters and tossed one spectator in jail, so clearly this is a judge you don't want to cross and someone might want to get that message to the mystery witness.

The mystery witness is not hiding from the public. Kelly's defense attorney Sam Adam Jr., greeted the man from Atlanta outside the criminal courts building. The pair walked up the ramp reserved for Kelly, in full view of the television and newspaper cameras and reporters.

CBS 2 sources say the man could be the ex-boyfriend of a woman who claims she had a sexual three-way with Kelly and the alleged victim who appears in the infamous sex tape at the center of the trial. But Kelly's attorneys said the woman, who was set to be a star prosecution witness, tried to extort money from Kelly.

"This witness from Atlanta that they brought in last night gives them a glimmer of hope, because apparently he is going to say something that will totally impeach her, totally make her an unbelievable witness," said Miller. "And the defense is hoping the prosecution decides, 'we don't want to put her on the stand.'"

The defendant, 41, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Although Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for the gospellike song "I Believe I Can Fly," his biggest hits are raunchy ballads like "Ignition" and his current single, "Hair Braider." He is scheduled to release a new album in July.

Kelly's attorneys have said he is not on the tape, even noting that the singer has a mole on his back and claiming that the man on the tape does not. The alleged victim, now 23, also has denied she is on the graphic 27-minute video.

Prosecutors, who played the video in open court within hours of their opening statements last week, claim it was made between Jan. 1, 1998, and Nov. 1, 2000, when the alleged victim was as young as 13.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker, Jay Levine and Joanie Lum, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

Editor's Picks

• Gay Celebrities
• Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
• Celebs Who Lean To The Right
• Real Or Fake?