Legal Missteps in The Case Against Robert Kraft

Announcer: It’s PYX 106, Quinn & Cantara.

Interviewer 1: It’s 1-800-LAW-1010, 1800law1010.com. Our friend Paul Harding from Martin, Harding & Mazzotti, on the phone. Morning Paul, how are you?

Paul: Hey, good morning, guys, doing great, sunny day, perfect day.

Interviewer 1: So the prostitution sting that ensnared billionaire Robert Kraft was doomed from the get-go because of a string of law enforcement’s missteps. You read this article, you’ve been following this case, were they obvious missteps? Was this a no-brainer for Kraft to win?

Paul: Well, you know, it was never…when it first came down, I don’t think anyone really looked at it anything more than he was just gonna plead to community service and it was gonna be over. But the closer you look at these things, you know, the more trouble there was, clearly. There’s a principle called Minimization on Video and the video has to protect those people who are not engaged in any criminal activity. And they didn’t do that, so once that video’s thrown out, the stop is thrown out, and they just don’t have much left against Robert Kraft.

Interviewer 2: The used towel boy, you know, he didn’t do anything wrong.

Interviewer 1: Or the guy who went in for just a massage.

Interviewer 2: Right? Yeah, man, likely story buddy.

Interviewer 1: That guy should have been, what…he should have been edited out or he should have never been filmed.

Paul. That’s right, you know. So the Fourth Amendment, you know, we talk about the Constitution, it seems like a relic from the past, but we have a reasonable expectation of privacy when we go places. And, so, going to a place to get your hair done or your nails done, that was certainly above board. Here you are on video and the courts found, “Nope. It was…they allowed that search warrant to be just a little too aggressive, and we’re gonna throw it all out.” And, really, you know, good lawyering, as they say, I mean, but, you know, historically this stuff happens, people are charged and, you know, they plead out to a violation, community service, or they pay a fine. Nobody goes out and, you know, and hires $100 or $500,000 worth of lawyers to look at it. And once they did, they realized it was a bad arrangement, it was a bad analysis. And so I think…they’re appealing it, but I think Robert Kraft’s case is gonna go away.

Interviewer 2: What about pulling him over in the Rolls, or whatever the hell he’s in, twice? Wasn’t there…I mean there’s gotta be a reason.

Paul: Yeah…

Interviewer 1: There’s no reason to pull him over, right?

Paul: There you go. They call that the fruit of the poisonous tree. So once the video is thrown out, anything that led to something… Because the reason they pulled him over was they saw him on video. So now the video is a non-issue, so the stop is also not admissible.

Interviewer 2: So anything beyond the video is ground zero, gets completely taken away from the court case?

Interviewer 1: Like it never happened.

Interviewer 2: That’s great, okay.

Paul: That’s right.

Interviewer 2: Interesting.

Paul: Yeah.

Interviewer 1: Couple quick questions from me. I mean, I know Kraft hasn’t won this. By winning it, it would mean that it would never go to trial, right?

Paul: Yeah, if you win it, it ends, the charges are dropped. But, of course, you know, this has been one of these public opinion trials.

Interviewer 2: Yeah, he’s making more of a [crosstalk 00:02:54]…

Interviewer 1: But can…to try to save even more face for Kraft, can he turn around and file a lawsuit against the police who did this to him?

Paul: Yeah. So what’s happening is the other people who were arrested here have…one lawyer got involved and they all sort of joined in, they’re suing Palm County. So lawsuits are filed. Kraft has not done so. He could, but my guess is if this thing goes away, he’s got enough money, he will just kinda quietly go away. Now he’s gotta deal with the NFL, right?

Interviewer 1: Right.

Paul: Because the NFL policy on your actions and your morality is different than a court of law.

Interviewer 1: Which is why he would have, I think, would’ve just copped to community service. But that would violate the code of conduct for NFL owners, so he had to play it straight.

Interviewer 2: Do we know a number of how many people over the years that they’ve busted at that massage parlor, just regular folks?

Paul: No, we don’t know. But we do know that there’s 14 people who’ve filed a lawsuit against the massage parlor and the police department. So that’s pending.

Interviewer 2: Interesting.

Interviewer 1: And one more time, this isn’t special treatment because Bob Kraft’s Bob Kraft, it’s just good lawyering, right?

Paul: Yeah, you know, because he had the time and the money to look into it. It was done poorly. Not supposed to be done that way, but usually, it’s not looked at that closely. So, again, no, Bob, if anything, you know, again, they’re trying to nail him more because he’s Bob Kraft, right? So if he wasn’t Bob Kraft, you know, it would have went away very quietly and no media, no anything. So, nope, it’s just…

Interviewer 2: It’s the way of the world.

Paul: Yeah, just the way of the world.

Interviewer 2: Yeah, it’s crazy.

Interviewer 1: Well, don’t feel bad when he rubs it in with another Super Bowl victory next year, because that’s how he does.

Interviewer 2: Thank you, Paul.

Paul: All right guys, talk soon.

Interviewer 1: Thanks, Paul.

Interviewer 2: There goes Paul Harding, Martin, Harding & Mazotti. 1-800-LAW-1010, 1800law1010.com. It’s PYX 106.