Judge Throws Out Video Evidence In Robert Kraft Prostitution Case

A Palm Beach County, Florida, judge ruled on Monday that prosecutors in New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft‘s solicitation of prostitution case cannot use surveillance video and other evidence.

County Judge Leonard Hanser said in his ruling this week that the video, which police claim show Kraft receiving sex acts he paid for at Orchids of Asia Day Spa, must be suppressed. This is due to the warrant enabling such recording lacking the proper rules to protect innocent spa customers from a violation of privacy. Hanser also ruled that evidence gathered from a traffic stop of the 77-year-old billionaire’s limo can also be disregarded.

The ruling is a major win for the six-time Super Bowl champion, who sought to suppress the evidence. He was one of the dozens of customers caught on camera receiving sexual acts along with massages at the spa in January.

Kraft, along with other patrons, pleaded not guilty to the prostitution solicitation charges that stemmed from the footage and other evidence. Kraft’s lawyers then argued that the evidence acquired was in violation of the Fourth Amendment and that it also violated Florida state law. They said that such measures were “unnecessary and inappropriate,” because Kraft’s actions were “not legally serious enough to justify such a maximally invasive investigatory technique.”

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Judge Hanser gave a detailed explanation as to why the evidence was tossed. He wrote: “The fact that some totally innocent women and men had their entire lawful time spent in a massage room fully recorded and viewed intermittently by a detective-monitor is unacceptable.” He added that Kraft had “reasonable, subjective expectation of privacy” inside a massage room and that “the detective-monitors were simply left to their own standards and devices to satisfy the minimization requirement,” which was not a far enough measure taken by police to ensure privacy.

As for evidence obtained through the search of Kraft’s limo, Hanser wrote that it was the “fruit of an unlawful search,” and suppressed all evidence found.

Article by Bill Piersa

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