One day after a judge slammed the door on a plan by prosecutors to release the secretly-recorded surveillance video that purports to show Patriots owner Robert Kraft engaged in sexual activities, lawyers filed paperwork alleging that someone is trying to sell the video.
Via CNN, attorneys representing two women accused of running a prostitution ring at a Florida spa contend that law enforcement has violated a court order by leaking the video. The motion cites a claim from TheBlast.com that it was “recently contacted by a party who claimed to have obtained portions” of the Kraft video.
“Considering the fact that only the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office and the Jupiter Police Department has possession, custody, and control of the video surveillance,” the motion explains, “it is a logical conclusion that someone must have leaked the video surveillance, in direct violation of this Court’s Order.”
The motion seeks further “emergency intervention” by the court, but if someone is actually trying to sell the video, it’s possible that the video already has escaped the boundaries of law enforcement, falling into the hands of someone who isn’t trying to publicize the video as part of the scorched-earth litigation that has broken out between prosecutors and Kraft but who is simply trying to make some money.
Still, the fact that prosecutors seem hell bent on disclosing the video, if for no reason other than to embarrass Kraft, if seems inevitable that someone will find a way to do so, with his or her digital tracks sufficiently covered. With Kraft holding fast in his effort to secure a full exoneration, the vague threat/promise that the video will be made public is the only leverage that prosecutors still have.
That leverage will disappear if/when the video ever were released, or if/when Kraft adopts a “go ahead and release it” posture.