Florida prosecutors will attempt to release police-obtained footage of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and 24 other men accused of paying for sexual services at a Florida spa, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The Palm Beach County State Attorney office states in the new filing that Florida’s open-records law requires it to release the video to media and the public “once it has retrieved and reviewed the records.”
Kraft’s lawyers had previously asked a judge ot bar the release of the video, calling it “pornography,” and arguing that it was obtained under an illegal search warrant.
Wednesday’s filing argues that the state attorney’s office is in fact obligated to release the video.
“The State, as custodian of the records, cannot delay the release of the records to allow a person to raise a constitutional challenge to the release of the documents,” prosecutors wrote.
In an emergency motion reported by CNBC and also filed Wednesday, an unidentified man who claims he paid for a “lawful massage” at the same spa asked a judge to bar prosecutors from releasing footage of him receiving said massage.
Lawyers for Lei Wang, the alleged manager of Orchids of Asia Day Spa, have also filed a new motion requesting a stop to the videos release.
Prosecutors say Kraft was caught on video engaging in an illicit sex act with alleged prostitutes on two separate occasions at Orchids of Asia Day Spa.
In March, Kraft apologised for the first time in a press release, saying “Throughout my life, I have always tried to do the right thing.”
