R. Kelly Lawyers Want Nude Pics Nixed

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http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13390,00.html?eol.tkr

 

Kelly Lawyers Want Nude Pics Nixed

 

by Josh Grossberg

 

R. Kelly is fighting to keep a couple of his candid-camera moments out of court.

 

While he awaits trial in Chicago on 21 charges of child pornography stemming from a widely circulated sex tape, the embattled R&B star's lawyers in his other kiddie porn case are petitioning a Florida judge to suppress a dozen digital nude photos of Kelly with an unidentified teen girl confiscated during a police raid of his Orlando home in June of 2002.

 

The camera-ready crooner (full name Robert Sylvester Kelly) was arrested in a Miami hotel on Jan. 22, 2003 and booked on 12 counts of possessing child pornography. These are in addition to the 21 counts he faces in Illinois.

 

Kelly's attorney, Ron Toward, told the judge that the pictures--the supposed smoking gun in the Florida case--should be tossed out as evidence on a technicality. Toward claims Polk County police did not have the proper search warrant.

 

In a motion filed last week, Toward argues that Detective Robert Mateo failed to mention in his probable cause affidavit for the child-pornography search warrant that he had already seen the illicit images when officers found the camera hidden inside a towel in a duffel bag at Kelly's home, according to the Ledger newspaper of Lakeland, Florida.

 

In a September deposition, the detective justified examining the contents of the camera, saying he was looking for evidence of the singer using drugs.

 

"I wasn't looking for pornographic pictures on the camera," Mateo said at a September deposition, per the Ledger. "It's been my experience that people who use narcotics tend to take pictures of themselves using narcotics. It's a strange phenomenon but it happens all the time."

 

The search reportedly turned up three digital photos showing the 37-year-old "I Believe I Can Fly" singer engaged in sex acts with the teen girl. Nine other photos were of the naked girl by herself.

 

After turning over the evidence to the state attorney's office, Kelly was taken into custody seven months later after officials were finally able to determine the identity of the underage girl.

 

Despite the motion, prosecutors expressed confidence that the search warrant will hold up in court and the evidence retained.

 

"Given the nature of the case of the, it is not surprising that Mr. Toward filed a motion to suppress," prosecutor Chip Thullbery told E! Online Friday.

 

Thullbery said that the detective stumbled upon the damning photos while he was searching Kelly's home for drugs, which gave police probable cause to go and get a search warrant for the pornography.

 

Toward was unavailable for comment. But Kelly's publicist, Allan Mayer, said the motion by Kelly's legal team speaks for itself.

 

"I know [Kelly's] lawyers are very confident and have made very strong arguments in the improper way the items were seized," Mayer said.

 

The rep also repeated his earlier contention accusing the Polk County District Attorney's Office of grandstanding.

 

The judge will take up the matter in a hearing on Feb. 5.

 

News of Kelly's legal gambit in Florida comes just days after the judge in his Illinois case cleared the performer to attend the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles with one caveat--the singer is to steer clear of old pal Michael Jackson, who's facing a child-molestation rap. Kelly is up for two Grammys.

 

Meanwhile, Kelly's alleged bad behavior didn't stop him from also scoring a nomination for an NAACP Image Award this year, prompting protests from African-American groups.

 

As a result of the uproar, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume has called for a revamping of the nomination process so the civil-rights group gets the final say. Currently, nominees for the 35-year-old awards are selected by a 300-member committee split between NAACP representatives and members of the television, music, film and publishing industries.

 

"It continues to concern me that every now and then an Image Award nomination is put forth that fails to meet the high standards for positive, constructive images on which the program was originally created," Mfume said in a statement. "Part of the reason for this is that the NAACP does not totally control the nominating process but is held totally responsible for all of the nominations."

 

Kelly received a nod for Outstanding Album for his latest multiplatinum release, Chocolate Factory, angering groups like Project Islamic Hope, which has lobbied hard for organizers to withdraw his nomination before the honors are handed out in Los Angeles on March 6.

 

"We would humbly suggest to the NAACP that future artists who are facing serious felony criminal charges be banned from the nomination process until their court proceedings are completed," said Najee Ali, head of Project Islamic Hope. "For the record, if Michael Jackson was nominated, our position would be the same."