Alabama man argues ineffective assistance after lawyer fails to use nude videos of him as evidence

In South v. United States, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46722 (S.D. Ala. 2012), an Alabama man argued ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to seek admission of videos of the him "nude in an outdoor setting" and "masturbating in a room with no one else present." At trial, the defendant had been convicted for traveling across state lines to attempt to engage in a sexual act with a minor, but he argued that the videos would "show[] the recent and consistent past intent of the Defendant's fondness of being nude outdoors."

The videos had been encrypted on his hard drive, and the government had not been able to crack the encryption. During the trial, the defendant gave his lawyer the password, and the videos were obtained. However, the lawyer did not seek to use the videos as evidence, and the court found that the contents were not exculpatory or helpful to the case.