WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. _ Prosecutors appealing a Palm Beach County judge's ruling, which barred video of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft participating in and paying for sexual acts at Jupiter day spa to be used in his solicitation case, filed their initial arguments Tuesday.
In the spring, Judge Leonard Hanser heard arguments from prosecutors and Kraft's lawyers over the admissibility of video shot through a controversial "sneak and peek" warrant, which allowed Jupiter police to install hidden cameras that recorded all activities at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa at Indiantown Road and U.S. 1. Kraft's lawyers called the situation "governmental overreach."
Hanser ruled Jupiter police did not satisfy the "minimization requirement," which says authorities must avoid seizure of material which has no relation to the crimes being investigated. At least four people, including two women, were filmed receiving "legitimate" massages inside the spa.
In May, prosecutors filed their notice of appeal with the 4th District Court of Appeal, and after granting two extensions, the court gave them an Oct. 1 deadline to file their initial brief.
In the 63-page brief filed late Tuesday, prosecutors argued Hanser's ruling was wrong, saying 90% of the video recorded over five days by Jupiter police captured "criminal misconduct."
Of the 39 massages recorded by police, prosecutors argued only four "failed to capture criminal conduct."
Prosecutors say Kraft's argument that the privacy rights of those four individuals were violated should not save him from prosecution. First, they argued, Kraft's "claim of a Fourth Amendment violation was predicated on alleged harms to the privacy of other persons who have not been charged with any crime and whose rights are not at issue in this case." They said he doesn't have standing to argue the rights of third parties.
Second, they wrote, Kraft was not entitled to total suppression of all video in his case. Instead, they argued, "he would be entitled to suppress only the unlawfully seized videos, a class which would not include the video evidence of his own prostitution offenses."
"Based on video captured by surveillance cameras police installed in the Spa pursuant to a warrant, Mr. Kraft's guilt is a virtual certainty."
Jupiter police reports say Kraft, a part-time Palm Beach resident, visited the spa twice in January, including once on the morning of Jan. 20, shortly before the Patriots owner flew to Kansas City to see his team defeat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game that night.
Kraft was one of dozens of people arrested on charges in Palm Beach, Martin, Indian River and Orange counties in connection to a monthslong investigation looking into day spas across Florida. Prosecutors originally said they were looking into alleged human trafficking, but no human traffic charges have stemmed from the investigation as of Wednesday.
In the initial brief filed Tuesday, prosecutors acknowledged this fact.
"To date, the Spa's massage workers have declined to cooperate with police, and no human trafficking charges have been brought."
