Chicago- R&B star R. Kelly won a round Monday in the lead-up to his trial on child pornography charges.
A judge ruled that prosecutors must be more specific about when they think Kelly videotaped himself engaging in sex acts with an underage girl.
The indictment gives only a broad window of more than four years, from Nov. 1, 1997, to Feb. 1, 2002, during which prosecutors say the videotape was made at a house Kelly owned in Chicago.
Motions filed by Kelly's lawyers suggest he may argue that the tape was made at the end of that time span when the girl would have been 17 years old.
Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan said Illinois case law doesn't appear to allow prosecutors to be so vague.
"It just seems like an extraordinary amount of time," Gaughan said.
Gaughan ordered prosecutors to narrow down the time frame but he wasn't specific.
"If that's not possible, we're going to have to look at other remedies," Gaughan said.
Prosecutors said after the hearing they would be able to narrow the time frame when they believe the tape was made.
Tape dated to late '98, early '99
The Sun-Times has reported that a show of new-release music videos -- heard playing on a television set in the background of the R. Kelly tape -- dates it to late 1998 or early 1999 when the girl would have been 14 years old.
"Let's Have a Party Tonight" by the Backstreet Boys and "Too Much" by the Spice Girls, which were hits at the time, can be heard. An advertisement can also be heard for "The Money Store," which closed in 2000.
Additionally, the girl's aunt has told the Sun-Times that she appears to be 14 in the video. Kelly thanked the girl by name in the liner notes of his "TP2.com" album, calling her his "goddaughter."
Prosecutors argued in court that the defense was looking for "an arbitrary cut-off date."
Kelly's lawyer Ed Genson argued that the prosecution's expansive time frame deprived Kelly of an alibi defense.
Gaughan postponed until Nov. 4 a ruling on a defense motion that challenges the constitutionality of the laws under which Kelly was charged.
