May 27, 2008 2:14 PM: 'Braces' defense could have some teeth
Chicago Tribune

If R. Kelly's mole defense doesn't set him free, the defense clearly hopes the alleged victim's braces can.

Shortly before the lunch break, the defense showed the jury a photo of the alleged victim with orthodontia gear in her mouth. A former family friend testified the victim, now 23, had braces in the late 1990s--about the same time authorities say the video was made.

Tjada Burnett, who worked with the alleged victim's mother and knew the alleged victim since she was 4, identified the girl in the video as her friend's daughter. She also testified that she recognized the male participant as Kelly, whom she had met on a few occasions.

The female participant, however, does not appear to be wearing braces in the video. Burnett testified the alleged victim wore braces at some point between 1997 and 1999, but she could not provide an exact date.

Still, she was adamant the female in the video was the alleged victim.

"It's her cheek, her nose, her facial structure," she said.

The missing-braces revelation comes a week after the defense showed the jury a police photograph of a dark mole on Kelly's back. The male participant in the video appears to have no such mole when the video is played in real time.

-- Stacy St. Clair