WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. _ A Palm Beach County circuit judge has officially blocked the release of surveillance-camera videos in the cases of two women accused of running a prostitution operation at a Jupiter day spa.
Circuit Court Judge Joseph Marx on Wednesday granted a motion for a protective order filed by attorneys for Lei Wang and Hua Zhang. Zhang, the owner of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, and Wang, who managed the spa, were arrested in February after authorities alleged that they oversaw prostitution activity at the spa.
In a ruling granting the defendants' Motion for Protective Order, Marx wrote that he was granting the order "in order to prevent a serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice."
The ruling orders that all video and audio footage gathered by the Jupiter Police Department, including all surveillance and police body camera footage, be sealed until further order of the court.
The ruling is separate from motions filed by attorneys for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was one of 25 men accused of soliciting prostitution at the day spa.
On April 23, County Judge Leonard Hanser temporarily blocked a request from media organizations _ including The Palm Beach Post _ to release the hidden camera footage by agreeing with Kraft's attorneys that it would infringe on their client's right to a fair trial.
