Kelly’s Ups & Downs

Update: R. Kelly received some good news that his criminal trial involving child pornography charges has been postponed until fall, allowing him to concentrate on his new album. But the bad news is the R&B star has to deal with a civil suit against him.

Kelly was recently ordered to give a deposition in a civil lawsuit filed by a woman who claims he secretly videotaped the two of them having sex. The deposition had been expected to take place after the criminal trial, but that could change now that the trial has been pushed back.

Kelly has been charged with 14 counts for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a minor. In the civil lawsuit, the woman, who is of age, learned of the sex tape by finding out it was available on the Internet, according to her attorneys.

“We want to find out what happened the night he videotaped a young lady without her consent,” attorney Patrick Condron told the Sun-Times.

Kelly’s attorney reportedly said the statute of limitations had run out on the woman’s claims of invasion of privacy and Kelly would likely assert his 5th Amendment rights to protect against self-incrimination, given his pending criminal trial.

The criminal case was pushed back until fall at the earliest after Kelly’s lawyers argued motions with the prosecutors. One issue is the time frame in which the videotape was made. Prosecutors claim the recording is between November 1, 1997, and February 1, 2002, placing the alleged victim between the ages of 13 and 17.

Judge Vince Gaughan said that was far too wide of a window and will hold a hearing on the issue July 20th. Prosecutors claim that a television seen on the videotape has an advertisement for The Money Store, which closed in 2000. However, if prosecutors base the time frame to the commercial, Kelly could argue it was simply a taped recording running in the background, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Prosecutors plan to call at least three witnesses who knew the girl in her teen years and can identify her age in the video, the paper said.