Another Florida judge has blocked the release of surveillance videos of men, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, accused of paying for sex acts at a Palm Beach County day spa.
Circuit Judge Joseph Marx said Monday he would “piggyback” on Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser’s order last week in granting a protective order to keep sealed the video in the cases against two women arrested at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter.
Marx ruled after hearing from attorneys representing Kraft, the prosecution, the media and the defense in the cases involving the women.
“It’s the only way I’m going to prevent serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice and there are no other alternatives for me, and I’m not changing venue,” Marx said ( via Treasure Coast Newspapers ).
Hanser last week ordered sealed the surveillance video — purported to show Kraft, 77, paying for and engaging in a sex act at the Jupiter spa — until his trial has begun or the case is otherwise adjudicated.
Kraft is charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution. He has denied engaging in any illegal activity, pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial.
His attorneys on Monday also made an emergency filing that asks prosecutors to turn over any information "favorable" for Kraft that they have from their investigation.
On Friday, Kraft's attorneys began a hearing on a motion to suppress the videos from his case, spending about five hours questioning Jupiter Police detective Andrew Sharp. That hearing is expected to continue Tuesday afternoon before Hanser, but it's unclear when it will conclude, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported.
Palm Beach County prosecutors have argued in court papers that they are obligated under Florida law to release police surveillance videos of Kraft and 24 other men allegedly paying for and engaging in sex acts at the spa.
Kraft and more than a dozen of the men charged in the case have sought protective orders blocking the public release of the videos. Attorneys for multiple media organizations have sought their release under Florida’s open-records law.
In a previous hearing before Hanser, Kraft defense attorney William Burck questioned the need to release the videos, especially given that already public affidavits from Jupiter police provided a detailed account of what they allege transpired between Kraft and women on Jan. 19 and 20.
"The only possible reason to release it is to get eyeballs and clicks” on media websites from people seeking to watch individuals “engaging potentially in sexual conduct," Burck told Hanser.
“It is basically pornography, your honor,” Burck said of the videos.
Beyond preventing the videos from becoming public, Kraft’s attorneys also have argued to keep them from being admitted as evidence in his trial, claiming that Kraft's rights were violated when authorities obtained the warrant that allowed the secret videotaping of him and others inside the spa.
Kraft continues to maintain that he committed no crime and thus far has refused a diversion agreement that state prosecutors offered in March.
The plea deal would allow him and other defendants who accept it to have their records expunged and the evidence permanently sealed, with the condition that Kraft and the others admit that had the case gone to court, they would have lost.
