Testimony began in the R. Kelly trial yesterday, as a former friend of the alleged sex tape victim took to the stand. Here’s an overview of what happened:
To try to make their case, prosecutors put Simha Jamison, 24, on the stand Wednesday. She said she and the alleged victim were best friends for about 10 years, until their junior year in high school, and that she recognizes her friend as the one in the tape.
When prosecutors asked Jamison if she recognized the man in the tape, she leaned forward in the witness stand, peeked around the corner of the judge’s bench and identified Kelly.
She testified that she and her friend visited Kelly at his recording studio and at a Chicago basketball court dozens of times, starting when they were around the age of 12.
Her friend first introduced her to Kelly as “her godfather,” Jamison said, adding that the singer frequently gave her friend cash gifts — “no less than $100 and no more than $500.”
The R&B star faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl, who may have been as young as 13.
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