FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 23 (UPI) —
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., trial of a man accused of mail fraud may include videotapes of sex acts between him and his wife to prove they are married, he said.
Rogerio Scotton, 43, representing himself in court after disagreeing with a succession of six defense lawyers, asked U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenblum to allow him to show what the judge described as "you and your wife engaged, I guess, in some very intimate acts" to a jury.
The presentation of photographs and videotapes is designed demonstrate his marriage is legitimate and to undermine allegations by prosecutors he lied about his marriage to obtain permanent resident status in the United States, the Miami Herald said.
In court, Rosenblum said she would not simply "play that stuff in front of a jury" without first seeing it.
Although she scheduled a hearing to view the footage Wednesday, Scotton did not provide it, the newspaper said.
The judge ordered Scotton to turn over the photographs and videotapes to prosecutor Bertha Mitrani, and to try to arrange an agreement with the prosecution that could avoid showing the images to jurors.
Scotton is a former motorcycle and race car driver who competed in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2003, WPTV-TV, Miami, said.
Jury selection in the trial was scheduled to begin Thursday. Scotton is charged with 27 counts of mail fraud and two counts of lying to immigration authorities. Prosecutors claim he stole millions of dollars from shipping companies by creating false accounts that fraudulently billed retailers between 2007 and 2013.