by TChris

All twelve counts accusing recording artist R. Kelly of possessing child pornography in Florida have been dismissed.

The case began when Polk County sheriff's detectives found marijuana in a home Kelly rented for his business associates. The detectives obtained a warrant to search the nearby house where Kelly was staying. During that search, detective Robert Mateo found what he considered to be an "unusual" amount of adult pornography in a cabinet. (It is unclear what constitutes an "unusual" amount of porn -- perhaps more than Mateo kept in his own home?)

Relying on his discovery of adult porn, Mateo requested a second warrant to search for child porn. Why Mateo thought he had probable cause to believe that a consumer of adult porn would also have child porn is again unclear, although the affidavit supporting the warrant apparently made reference to "unspecified information from Chicago authorities." Kelly is also charged with possession of child porn in Chicago, although some of those charges were recently dismissed.

Armed with the second warrant, Mateo returned to Kelly's home and seized a video camera, on which he discovered "several pictures of two women performing sex acts and other photos of Kelly in a sex act." Mateo apparently judged the women in question to be minors -- hence the child porn charges.

Circuit Judge Dennis Maloney suppressed the pictures as evidence after concluding that Mateo did not present sufficient evidence to justify issuance of the second warrant. Judge Maloney ruled that Mateo failed to demonstrate that a possessor of adult porn, marijuana, and video cameras would probably also be in possession of child porn. No pictures, no case, so the prosecution dropped the charges after deciding it had no grounds for appeal.