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 Hua Zhang and Lei Wang. 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 his ruling, Marx wrote that he was granting the order "in order to prevent a serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice."
The ruling is similar to one issued April 23 by County Judge Leonard Hanser to block the release of videos that reportedly show New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft receiving sexual services at Orchids of Asia on Jan. 19 and 20. Hanser said their release could influence jurors and would infringe on Kraft's right to a fair trial.
In court filings, attorneys for Wang and Zhang argued that release of the videos would make a fair trial unlikely for their clients as well. In his ruling, Marx wrote that there was concern that making the footage public could make it difficult to seat a jury.
"The Court is concerned about allowing the media to disclose to the public evidence that would be (or could be) central to the case against the Defendants," he wrote. "In effect, the potential jury pool would be given the opportunity to preview trial evidence, including identifying the Defendants as the persons depicted in the Videos."
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 a further order from the court.
As part of his April 23 ruling, Hanser ordered the videos sealed until a jury was seated or the case resolved.
That ruling did not affect Kraft's claim that the videos should be thrown out or "suppressed" as evidence because the "sneak-and-peek" search warrant used to install the cameras was obtained improperly and that Jupiter police violated "minimization requirements" by filming noncriminal behavior at the spa as well as alleged illegal activity.
Last week, a judge in Martin County ruled that prosecutors cannot use videos that were secretly recorded by Martin County Sheriff's Office investigators in a related day-spa investigation.
County Judge Kathleen Roberts ruled that sheriff's detectives failed to follow "strict standards" required by law when the covertly shot video of clients receiving massages at the Bridge Foot Massage & Spa in Hobe Sound and the Florida Therapy Spa in Stuart.
"While this did capture the events and activities in which these defendants were involved, it also captured and collected events of the otherwise innocent clients that went in for legitimate services, all unaware they were being watched," Roberts wrote in her six-page order.
The 19th Circuit State Attorney's Office, which serves the Treasure Coast, said it plans to appeal the ruling.
