WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WHDH) — An appeal was filed by Florida prosecutors just hours before the midnight deadline to challenge a judge’s decision to block secretly recorded video in connection to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s alleged solicitation of prostitutes at a massage parlor in Florida.
Kraft is facing two misdemeanor charges for allegedly paying for sex acts on two separate occasions in January that were caught on cameras hidden in the ceiling. Tuesday night, prosecutors reaffirmed their position that those tapes, which were previously deemed inadmissible, should have their day in court.
Judge Leonard Hanser ruled in May that prosecutors could not use the video from inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in court because Jupiter police did not take enough precautions to avoid invading the privacy of spa customers who only received legitimate massages.
“Mr. Kraft lacks standing to vicariously assert the Fourth Amendment rights of third parties. That alone is fatal to his claims.” the argument read. “Second, in no event would Mr. Kraft be entitled to total suppression of all video in the case; rather, he would be entitled to suppress only the unlawfully seized videos, a class which would not include the video of his own prostitution offenses.”
This is a motion to move forward within the appellate court system.
The actual trial has been suspended pending the decision.
He is one of 24 people charged in connection to the undercover investigation.
Kraft has pleaded not guilty but issued a public apology.
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