Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The question of whether the surveillance video containing images of Patriots owner Robert Kraft engaged in sexual activities has been the subject of more litigation than the groundbreaking (thank you, thesaurus) case that resulted in Potter Stewart’s brilliantly simple standard for spotting obscenity.
As to the video currently in question, the “know it when you see it” test remains moot, because for now no one will be seeing it.
Via ESPN.com, on Monday a Florida judge again blocked the public release of the secretly-generated videos showing Kraft and 24 others charged with solicitation of prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida.
Monday’s hearing apparently arose from an April 18 request by spa manager Lei Wang, who is separately charged with prostitution, to hold the Palm Beach County state attorney’s office and the Jupiter police in contempt of court due to reports that the Kraft video was being offered for sale. Officials claimed that they are confident the Kraft video hasn’t leaked; the presiding judge again blocked public release of the video.
The judge presiding over the charges pending against Kraft has ruled that the video shall remain secret until a jury is sworn in at the trial of his case, the charges against him are dismissed, or a plea agreement is entered. As explained in the ESPN article, the plea deal offered to Kraft in March would result in the video being permanently being sealed; however, he would have to admit as part of the dismissal of the charges that a trial would have resulted in a conviction.
Kraft presumably is holding firm due to concerns that any acknowledgement of guilt will result in a guaranteed suspension. As previously explained here, however, even exoneration may force the Commissioner to take action, given than multiple players have been suspended without ever being found guilty of the underlying charges.