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NFL Notebook
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Two of Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s high-profile defense attorneys lied during his misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution case and falsely alleged a police officer admitted to fabricating a traffic violation to stop another massage parlor customer, prosecutors asserted Tuesday.
The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office filed a motion asking Judge Leonard Hanser to hold attorneys Alex Spiro and William Burck in contempt and throw out their questioning of Jupiter police officer Scott Kimbark. While questioning Kimbark at a court hearing last week, Spiro accused him of telling other officers he would make up a reason to stop the customer who left the Orchids of Asia Day Spa directly before Kraft in January, using an obscenity to describe what he would do.
Prosecutors say Kimbark never did that.
“There are no rationalizations, justifications, or excuses for Spiro’s and Burck’s knowing presentation of false and misleading accusations directly affecting the credibility” of Kimbark, prosecutors Judith Arco, Greg Kridos and Craig Williams wrote.
Burck told The Associated Press by phone that he and Spiro “will not be intimidated.” He said they will provide evidence supporting their claims. Burck represented former White House Counsel Don McGahn during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Spiro also represents Jay-Z, Mick Jagger and other celebrities in various matters.
“They have made a series of false accusations against us,” Burck said. “This is all an obvious and desperate attempt to deflect attention away from the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the Jupiter Police Department and the state lawyers.”
Last week, Kraft’s attorneys asked the judge to throw out video recordings allegedly showing the 77-year-old owner twice paying for sex in January at Orchids of Asia. Kraft, who is worth $6 billion, is one of 25 men charged with paying between about $50 and $100 for sex. Kraft has pleaded not guilty but issued a public apology for his actions.
In court documents and proceedings, Jupiter police said that after receiving a tip from a neighboring county that Orchids of Asia might be a prostitution front, detectives placed it under surveillance in November and persuaded a judge in January to issue a warrant letting them install hidden cameras in the spa. Kraft’s attorneys accused them of lying to obtain the warrant, calling that a violation of the customers’ privacy rights.
According to testimony, if detectives monitoring the cameras saw a customer pay for sex, the suspect was tailed by Jupiter officers as he left the parking lot until he committed a traffic violation. He was then pulled over to obtain his identification so he could later be charged with solicitation. The men were not told immediately that they had been seen at Orchids of Asia. Police said they didn’t want to tip off the spa’s owner about the surveillance.
Kimbark pulled over Kraft’s chauffer after one of his visits. During questioning last week, Spiro asked Kimbark about his recorded conversation with other officers about pulling over the previous customer. Spiro four times accused Kimbark of acknowledging he didn’t have probable cause to stop the man, but would “make some … up,” using a common obscenity.
Kimbark denied saying that, as did prosecutors Tuesday. Prosecutors said to avoid telling the man that his traffic violation had occurred in the spa’s parking lot, Kimbark was recorded telling another officer that if the man asked about its location he would “come up with something.”
Prosecutors said the wording of Spiro’s question “was designed to mislead (the judge) as to the lawfulness of the traffic stop.”
Burck and Spiro filed a rebuttal late Tuesday saying Spiro “had a good faith basis” to question the officer as he did, based on what he was told by the other man’s attorney. They said prosecutors didn’t give them Kimbark’s video before the hearing as requested.
Prosecutors also accused Spiro of trying to intimidate Kimbark during a lunch break, allegedly telling the officer he had video of Kimbark saying “stupid” things.
Burck in his phone interview laughed at the accusation, saying prosecutors were present during Spiro’s conversation with Kimbark.
“If they thought it was such a terrible thing, it is interesting that they decided to raise it a week later and not right after it happened in front of the judge,” he said.
Pierre-Paul’s season in doubt: The status of Tampa Bay’s Jason Pierre-Paul for the upcoming season is uncertain following a single-car accident last week near his home in South Florida.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers said Tuesday that the club’s medical staff is conducting a “thorough evaluation” of the star defensive end, who was treated and released from a hospital after a single-car crash on May 2.
ESPN reported that Pierre-Paul, obtained from the New York Giants in a trade in 2018, may have suffered a neck fracture that could sideline him all of next season.
“As we stated last week following the news of Jason’s auto accident, our immediate concern was for both Jason and his passenger,” Bucs general manager Jason Licht said in a statement.
“While Jason was treated and released in South Florida the same day of the accident, we wanted to ensure that our medical team had an opportunity to perform a thorough evaluation here in Tampa, and that process is currently ongoing,” Licht added.
Pierre-Paul, who was not cited in the crash, had 12½ sacks last season to become the first Tampa Bay player to have 10 or more in a season since Simeon Rice in 2005.
It was also the most sacks the 10th-year pro has had in a season since suffering a serious hand injury in a July 4 fireworks accident in 2015.
Steelers sign draft picks: The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed two of their picks from the 2019 NFL Draft to four-year deals.
Linebacker Sutton Smith and defensive end Isaiah Buggs both signed contracts Tuesday.
Smith was the team’s first sixth-round pick and Buggs was the team’s second sixth-round pick.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.