(JTA) — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft scored some points in court on Wednesday as he fights charges that he solicited prostitution in South Florida.
A state appeals court in West Palm Beach upheld a lower court ruling that an explicit video of Kraft from a massage parlor cannot be used at his trial. The court agreed that the police violated his rights when they secretly recorded the video, which is believed to show an employee performing a sexual act on Kraft.
Kraft was among some 100 men charged in February 2019 with solicitation in massage parlors in Martin County, in his case the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, near where he keeps a home.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of soliciting prostitution. One month later, however, he publicly apologized.
“Throughout my life, I have always tried to do the right thing. The last thing I would ever want to do is disrespect another human being. I have extraordinary respect for women; my morals and my soul were shaped by the most wonderful woman, the love of my life, who I was blessed to have as my partner for 50 years,” Kraft said in the statement.
Kraft’s wife Myra died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 68.
