Robert Kraft prosecutors buy more time for appeal in case
Prosecutors in the Robert Kraft prostitution case were granted an extension that should prolong the overall judicial process until September at least.
A little over a week ago, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and 24 other defendants in the high-profile Florida massage parlor prostitution case scored a major legal victory over their opponents in the prosecution.
Judge Leonard Hanser ruled that surveillance tapes taken from the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida – tapes that allegedly show Kraft paying for and receiving illicit services from spa employees – would be inadmissible as video evidence in court.
In his finding, Hanser stated that the methods in which Palm Beach County police and authorities conducted their investigation was flawed, and all the innocent parties who frequented the massage parlors legally were entitled to having their privacy respected. As such, any video evidence taken from the parlors’ hidden cameras would not be allowable as evidence in any trial.
Without the video proof, Kraft’s legal team claim that the prosecution doesn’t have a case, as they now don’t have any evidence that links Kraft and the other defendants to doing anything wrong within the walls of the parlor. Based off Hanser’s decision to bar the evidence, Kraft’s attorneys claimed victory was imminent for their client.
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Perhaps that victory is still forthcoming, but it no longer looks imminent.
First, as was expected by Kraft and the defense, the prosecution appealed Hanser’s decision. Then, however, prosecutors asked for an extension to the time in which they have to bring Kraft to “a speedy trial.”
On Tuesday, Hanser granted the request. While it’s unknown just how much time the prosecution has been given to get their case in order, it’s believed that the appeal won’t be heard now until September 4 at the earliest, according to reports.
All this is to say that those expecting the Kraft case to resolve itself in the near future may be waiting until the start of the regular season – or longer – for that moment to finally come.