Florida Prosecutors Plan To Release Videos That Allegedly Implicate Patriots Owner Robert Kraft
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The latest twist in the ongoing saga involving a sting on a Florida-based spa that led to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft getting charged with soliciting prostitution came on Wednesday. According to the Boston Globe, prosecutors based in Florida plan on releasing the police surveillance videos that allegedly implicate 25 men, including Kraft.
According to the report, both Kraft’s lawyer and the lawyer for Lei Wang, the alleged manager of the spa, want a judge to keep the videos from becoming public prior to Wang’s criminal case getting heard. However, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg’s office argued they cannot wait to keep these videos, which would be “pixelated,” off the public record.
Prosecutors, “as the custodian of the records, cannot delay the release of records to allow a person to raise a constitutional challenge to the release of the documents,’’ Aronberg’s office wrote Wednesday. “The Public Records Act does not allow a custodian to delay the production of records to allow the resolution of a constitutional challenge to the release of the documents.”
Prosecutors also argue that the videos need to be made public ahead of the trial of Hua Zhang, the alleged spa owner. Kraft’s lawyers, meanwhile, argued “the only possible reason to release it is to get eyeballs and click.” Kraft has previously pled not guilty to soliciting prostitution charges after he was reportedly offered a plea deal.
(Via Boston Globe)