palmbeachpost | After the arrests, prosecutors and several law-enforcement agencies said they believed the spas may be linked to human trafficking. To date, no one has been charged with human trafficking in relation to these cases, according to court records.
Once the case was brought to court, the recordings were challenged by lawyers and barred by judges from being used as evidence because of the controversial means in which law enforcement obtained the video, known as "sneak-and-peek" warrants.
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After prosecutors spent a year fighting the charges, an appeals court ruled in August that the lower court was correct and that "total suppression was the appropriate remedy under the circumstances of this case."
"The type of law enforcement surveillance utilized in these cases is extreme," the 23-page opinion read.
Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody said she wouldn't take an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, so the prostitution solicitation charges were dropped in September.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said he and his office were forced to drop the charges after the rulings.
"Without these videos, we cannot move forward with our prosecutions, and thus we are ethically compelled to drop the cases against all the defendants," he said in September.
When asked why the charges against the women were not dropped, Aronberg said there was still enough evidence without the recordings to prosecute them.
"Orchids of Asia Day Spa was a notorious brothel in a family shopping center," Aronberg said.
"Rich
guys from a local country club lined up to receive sex acts throughout
the day until the place closed around midnight," Aronberg said.
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