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Patriots owner Robert Kraft sues for sex spa case records

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Attorneys for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is accused of receiving sex acts for money at a Jupiter spa, recently filed a lawsuit against prosecutors , alleging they haven’t turned over certain records related to the case. The 81-page civil filing argues State Attorney Dave Aronberg, his office and an assistant state attorney “knowingly and willfully neglected their statutory duties under the Public Records Act.”

Kraft, 78, and a number of other men are accused paying for sex services at Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida. Kraft is accused of doing so twice on consecutive days in January.

The spa crackdown began being disclosed Feb. 19 at a media briefing at the Martin County Sheriff's Office where Sheriff William Snyder said his agency targeted four spas in Martin County.

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Investigators were led to Orchids of Asia Day Spa in neighboring Palm Beach County, where covert surveillance cameras were installed after investigators got a "sneak-and-peek" warrant.

A judge in May ruled video evidence in Kraft’s case should be excluded, but prosecutors appealed that ruling.

According to the lawsuit filed Oct. 1, Kraft’s attorneys sent a records request later in May to the State Attorney’s Office for 29 “categories of documents and communications relating to the Jupiter Police Department’s investigation of the Spa and resulting criminal charges.”

The lawsuit alleges prosecutors in September stated they already handed over “responsive, non-exempt public records” during the discovery process. Additional “responsive documents and communications are exempt.”

The suit alleges public records given to Kraft by prosecutors don’t include some email correspondence, but Jupiter police already provided some of that when responding to another records request.

“This glaring omission in the public records provided by the State Attorney’s Office suggests that it has improperly excluded countless other responsive, non-exempt documents and communications in an effort to hide evidence from Mr. Kraft,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states the records are non-exempt public records that should have been provided.

Kraft wants a hearing on the matter.