The defence team has begun its case in the sex tape trial involving singer R Kelly with the alleged victim's family 'split' over the proceedings.
The I Believe I Can Fly star is accused of filming himself engaging in sex acts with a girl who prosecutors say may have been as young as 13 at the time.
Three relatives of the girl allegedly shown in the footage testified on Wednesday that she was not the female seen in the video.
However, four family members had earlier testified for the prosecution that their relative was indeed the girl on the tape.
Leroy Edwards Jr answered in the affirmative when asked if the family had "pretty much split in half as a result of this incident".
Shonna Edwards, another relative of the alleged victim, said the girl seen on the tape "definitely wasn't" her relative and said that having met Kelly in the 1990s, she did not believe the man in the video was the Grammy winner.
The relatives' testimony came after the prosecution's key witness, 27-year-old Lisa Van Allen, said she had been involved in several sexual encounters with Kelly and the alleged victim.
Ms Van Allen told jurors in Chicago she had first had sex with the R 'n' B star and the alleged victim in 1998, when she was 18, Kelly 30 years old and the girl allegedly shown in the video just 14.
However, his defence team accused her of attempting to extort money from the singer and said she was testifying due to a wish to gain a reduced sentence on a weapons charge for a man with whom she lives.
Earlier in the day, Chicago Sun Times journalist Jim DeRogatis, who claims to have received the tap anonymously in 2002, was excused from answering questions on the grounds that responses regarding images of child abuses could violate his rights under the Fifth Amendment.
Kelly faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
05/06/2008 12:47:40
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