By CLEMENTE LISI
June 6, 2008
A body mark that may or may not be a mole was a bone of contention yesterday in testimony at the R. Kelly sex-tape trial.
Video-analysis expert Charles Palm testified for the defense that a fingernail-sized mark seen on the lower back of the man in the tape was not a skin condition, but rather a video distortion.
The mark that appears and disappears over the course of the lurid video is a result of the tape being duplicated so many times, Palm said yesterday.
Last week at the Chicago trial, the prosecution's forensics expert, Grant Fredericks, said the mark appeared to be a mole, and compared the frames with 2002 police photos of Kelly's back, which show a mole in the same position.
Earlier yesterday, private eye Jack Palladino - whose celebrity clients reportedly include Bill Clinton and Courtney Love - said R. Kelly's former girlfriend Lisa Van Allen tried to shake down the R&B star for $300,000 in exchange for keeping quiet about having threesomes with the singer and a teenage girl
Palladino testified yesterday that even before meeting Van Allen and her fiancé, he "had a very good idea they would try to extort money" from Kelly.
The gumshoe - hired by Kelly to thwart extortion plots stemming from the alleged sex tapes - said the couple solicited the bribe by mentioning a potential $300,000 book deal.
With Post Wire Services
