Lawyers: Robert Kraft will suffer ‘irreparable harm’ if video is released in Fla. prostitution case
In a separate motion, Kraft’s lawyers are asking a judge to throw out the video evidence.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft will suffer “irreparable harm’’ by the release of video footage that allegedly captured him buying sexual favors at a Florida spa, and public disclosure could “destroy’’ his chances of getting a fair trial, his lawyers said Wednesday.
Attorneys for Kraft, 77, made the assertions in a legal filing in Palm Beach County, where he currently faces two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla., in January.
Kraft, through his representatives, has denied engaging in criminal activity, pleaded not guilty, and requested a jury trial. He’s also requesting that the video footage and related evidence be sealed pending further order of the court, a motion opposed by several media outlets including the Boston Globe.
In a memo supporting Kraft’s second amended motion to seal the evidence, his legal team said his due process rights hang in the balance.
“In particular, disclosure [of the video evidence] would further infringe Mr. Kraft’s constitutionally protected privacy rights and interests, as well as his constitutional right to a fair trial, in ways that thereafter could not be cured,’’ his lawyers wrote. “Nor do the interests invoked by the Media weigh as heavy on the scales, or even belong on the scales, particularly at this early stage of the proceeding.’’
The motion said that rights “of public access are important, to be sure, but those rights simply do not go so far as to entitle the Media to get out in front of these proceedings, preempt suppression rulings, and crack open protected law-enforcement files so as to unearth the most sensitive and suspect portions thereof without regard for the defendant’s legitimate privacy and due process rights.’’
In a separate motion, Kraft’s lawyers are asking a judge to throw out the video evidence. That motion, if successful, would bar prosecutors from the showing the video footage to jurors at trial.
In Wednesday’s motion related to the media’s efforts to get the video evidence, Kraft’s lawyers wrote that to “permit media and public access to the Videos would inflict irreparable harm on Mr. Kraft before essential legal determinations and proceedings can run their course.’’
A hearing on the motion is slated for Friday.
