Martin County “Spa” Case Evidence Suppressed
In a stunning and extraordinarily comprehensive Order by Martin County Judge Kathleen H. Roberts entered this date, a Court has for the first time ruled that the “sting” organized by Local and Federal Authorities, ensnaring citizens of the Treasure Coast and the Palm Beaches into criminal prosecutions by authorizing a “Sneak and Peek” warrant to allow law enforcement to secretly videotape day-spa frequenters.
The order, replicated here, unhesitatingly rejected the Government’s argument that citizens impacted by arrests of hundreds of local residents were victimized by overzealous governmental intrusion into previously uncharted zones of American’s expectations of “privacy”.
Among other issues, the Court ruled that Defendants victimized by the unlawfully executed “sneak and peek” warrants had legal “standing” to invoke their Constitutional Rights, and that law enforcement excesses while executing the warrants were severe enough to require the Court to ‘throw out’ the videotape evidence obtained during the course of the illegal warrant videotaping.
Judge Roberts’ comprehensive Order ruled that the Constitution was violated by Law Enforcement in two (2) distinct ways; First, by representing in their application for the warrant that the Government had studied and understood Federal law that places serious restrictions upon police when executing such intrusive warrants, and second, that the police failed to follow their own “minimization “ protocols, having represented to the Court prior to its issuing the warrant, that such restrictive limitations would be precisely followed by police when executing the videotaping.
Although the Order issued today impacted four (4) of the aggrieved citizens, it is expected that the Order will impact the hundreds of remaining cases in Martin, Indian River, and Palm Beach Counties.
Criminal Defense Lawyer Jonathan Jay Kirschner, Esq. and Associates handle criminal cases in Martin, Indian River, and Palm Beach Counties. If you or a loved one are in need of an experienced criminal defense lawyer, contact Jonathan Jay Kirschner, Esq. at your earliest convenience at (772) 489-8501.
