Appeals court to hear lawsuit filed by fan over Patriots’ secret taping of Jets coaches

Court to hear fan lawsuit over Patriots’ filming

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in a lawsuit arising from the New England Patriots’ videotaping of New York Jets coaches.

The suit has been filed by a Jets season ticket holder who also is an attorney.

Carl Mayer and co-counsel Bruce Afran claim the Patriots’ videotaping deprived Jets fans of seeing an honest game. They’ll argue the case before the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia on Wednesday. It was dismissed by a federal judge in New Jersey last year.

The Patriots were caught taping signals by Jets coaches, a violation of league rules, during the opening game of the 2007 season at Giants Stadium. New England won.

The NFL fined head coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and stripped New England of a first-round draft choice.