Attorneys for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft appear in a Palm Beach County court in Florida. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. This continues proceedings from Friday and Tuesday. The defense is trying to keep alleged salacious footage of the defendant from being used in the prosecution.
They already sort of got their way when the judge ruled video of Kraft will remain under seal at least for the duration of the case, but they still want video nixed completely.
Kraft’s lawyers argue the footage was obtained from an “unlawful ‘sneak and peek’” search warrant, according to a filing obtained by Law&Crime. Cops hid cameras at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida. Authorities claim that Kraft and other so-called johns solicited prostitutes at the business.
A judge authorized the warrant for five days, but Kraft’s defense argue that cops eaggerated their case and misled the judge when obtaining permission to install the cameras. In other words, law enforcement broke the law, said the attorneys.
The defense says this police tactic was overkill for investigating what were suspected to only be misdemeanor offenses.
“Far from having justification commensurate with the extraordinary invasions it perpetuated, law enforcement in this case had no authority whatsoever for something as drastic as ‘sneak and peek’ video surveillance, much less continuous, unbounded video surveillance of naked patrons in private licensed massage parlors,” they wrote.
Attorneys argued that there’s nothing under the law that lets police “conduct covert video surveillance inside private premises to investigate prostitution, let alone misdemeanor solicitation.”
[Image via Kevin Winter/Getty-Images]
