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R. KELLY SPEAKS FOR FIRST TIME AT TRIAL: Plus, judge says jurors can view sex tape during deliberations.
*R. Kelly will not be testifying in his own defense at his child pornography trial in Chicago.
The artist spoke for the first time in court Tuesday when Judge Vincent Gaughan informed him of his right not to testify.
According to the Associated Press, the Grammy-winning singer leaned forward at the defense table with his hands folded and responded: "I decided not to testify." The jury was not present at the time.
Kelly, 41, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he videotaped himself having sex with an underage girl. Both Kelly and the alleged victim, now 23, have denied being on the tape.
Also Tuesday, the judge ruled that jurors are allowed to view the sex tape once they begin deliberations. Kelly's lawyers had asked the judge to bar jurors from reviewing the graphic video, saying they worried jurors would overemphasize one piece of evidence. But prosecutors argued the tape is the primary subject of the trial and couldn't be kept from jurors.
Two rebuttal witnesses were scheduled to be called as of press time: Grant Frederics, a forensic video analyst who found what appeared to be a mole on the back of the man in the sex tape; and Robert Wolf, an assistant district attorney from Atlanta who is expected to deny suggestions that Lisa Van Allen, who testified she had a three-way sexual encounter with Kelly and the alleged underage victim, was given a deal to testify in the Kelly case.
Closing arguments are likely to be delivered Thursday.
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