Prosecutors Appeal Judge's Order To Suppress Spa Video In Robert Kraft Case
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS/AP) – Florida prosecutors filed an appeal Friday of a judge's decision to throw out surveillance video allegedly showing New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others engaging in sexual acts in a massage parlor.
Judge Leonard Hanser ruled that video from inside the Orchids of Asia spa could not be used in court. Hanser said Jupiter police detectives and the judge who issued the search warrant allowing the secret installation of cameras at the spa did not do enough to minimize the invasion of privacy of other customers, some of whom only received legal massages.
Lawyers for Kraft, meanwhile, are asking the judge to prevent the video from ever being released to the public.
Kraft pleaded not guilty to two charges of soliciting a prostitute in February.
According to police records, Kraft, a widower worth $6 billion, was chauffeured to the spa on the evening of Jan. 19, where officers secretly recorded him engaging in a sex act with two women and then handing over an undetermined amount of cash.
Investigators said Kraft returned 17 hours later and was again videotaped engaging in sex acts with a woman before paying with a $100 bill and another bill, police said.
Kraft was ordered to appear in court on May 21. A status hearing on the case that was supposed to happen on Friday was canceled "due to a conflict," and has not been rescheduled.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)