A Florida judge has ruled prosecutors in the Robert Kraft solicitation case cannot use secretly recorded video that allegedly shows the New England Patriots owner engaging in sex acts in a massage parlor.
Judge Leonard Hanser’s ruling makes it very likely the 77-year-old will not be convicted as prosecutors can no longer use their video evidence or any other evidence obtained on January 19 or 20 via a search warrant related to the New England Patriots owner.
Detectives obtained their evidence about Kraft using secret cameras which were installed at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. In Hanser’s ruling, he wrote that the police did not do enough to minimize the invasion of privacy of other customers at the spa.
“The fact that some totally innocent women and men had their entire lawful time spent in a massage room fully recorded and viewed intermittently by a detective-monitor is unacceptable,” Hanser wrote.
As a result of the ruling, Kraft’s attorneys may seek to have the case dismissed based on lack of evidence as soon as today.
Prosecutors can attempt to continue the case using the evidence they’ve already presented or appeal Judge Hanser’s ruling, but the general consensus among legal experts for Sports Illustrated and ESPN seems to be that their case against Kraft is doomed.
NFL officials have said they are monitoring the case and its legal ramifications but have not disciplined Kraft. Depending on what happens, Kraft could face punishment for “conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in” the NFL.
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