Robert F. Bukaty / AP file

Mark Strong, who is accused of helping his ex-mistress run a prostitution business, wants Skype screenshots of her liaisons excluded as evidence in his trial.

An insurance agent charged with helping a Zumba instructor run a prostitution business thinks X-rated images of the liaisons are too hot for the jury to handle.

A lawyer for Mark Strong asked a Maine judge on Monday to exclude a whopping 577 Skype screenshots, arguing the prosecution wants to "drown" his client in "extremely sexual" and prejudicial evidence, the Bangor Daily News reported.

Joel Page / AP

Alexis Wright will go on trial in the spring for allegedly running a prostitution business out of her Zumba studio.

"I think some of this stuff is going to horrify some of these people to the point where he won't possibly get a fair trial," defense attorney Daniel Lilley said on the fifth-day of the trial.

Prosecutors contend the images found on Strong's computer of his ex-mistress, Alexis Wright, and a string of men show he was "actively involved" in the prostitution business.

Strong's attorney countered at worst it shows his client is a "voyeur."

The judge has not yet ruled on whether jurors can see the Skype shots, but signaled that she's inclined to allow them, the newspaper reported.

Strong, 57, who also worked as a part-time private eye in Thomaston, Maine, faces 13 prostitution-related counts.

Wright, 30, is charged with 106 counts for allegedly selling sex to dozens of men at her Kennebunk, Maine, dance studio and home. She will be tried later.

A police computer expert testified Monday that Strong deleted email from his computer a day after Wright's office and home were raided, but he seized the Skype images, spreadsheets and tax documents.

The detective returns to the stand on Tuesday, but only after the judge rules on a defense motion to throw out the remaining charges against Strong. Forty-six counts of privacy invasion have already been dismissed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Gregory Rec / AP

Mark Strong, right, talks with his attorney Dan Lilley on Jan. 25, after a lower court dropped most of the charges against him in connection with an alleged prostitution operation in Kennebunk, Maine.

Maine’s highest court has affirmed a judge’s decision to dismiss 46 charges against defendant Mark Strong, accused of helping a woman run a prostitution ring out of her Zumba studio in the resort town of Kennebunk.

All of the charges were related to alleged violations of privacy. Strong, 57, will still stand trial in York County Superior Court on 13 remaining charges, including promotion of prostitution. Dance instructor Alexis Wright, 30, has been charged with 106 counts, including engaging in prostitution. She is expected to go on trial later this year. Both Strong and Wright have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Wright’s attorneys filed an amicus brief in support of Strong on Feb. 4 in which they stated that Wright had “a vested interest in the resolution of this appeal” due to the similarity of some charges between herself and Strong.

In January, Judge Nancy Mills decided to drop the invasion of privacy charges, which arose from allegations that Wright videotaped herself engaging in sexual acts with clients in her Pura Vida dance studio, as well as at two other locations. The alleged patrons “may have had a subjective expectation of privacy, but I can’t find an objective expectation of privacy that society would be prepared to accept,” Mills said in court last month.

Maine seeks to reinstate dropped Zumba prostitution charges

The decision may be a major blow to the case against Strong. The Supreme Judicial Court wrote that, “the circumstances of the court’s dismissal of the forty-six privacy counts present a reasonable likelihood that the state’s prosecution of Strong has been seriously impaired. The dismissed privacy counts constitute the majority of the criminal counts brought against Strong.”

Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments earlier in the week, and affirmed the superior court’s dismissal in a unanimous decision on Friday.

“Places of prostitution and people who knowingly frequent them to engage a prostitute are not sanctioned by society,” Supreme Court Justice Jon Levy wrote in the court’s decision. “Accordingly, it is objectively unreasonable for a person who knowingly enters a place of prostitution for the purpose of engaging a prostitute to expect that society recognizes a right to be safe from surveillance while inside.”

Accused Zumba pimp: It wasn't 'love' with dance instructor

Strong’s trial has experienced repeated setbacks since jury selection began in January. It was expected that it would take a day to seat a jury, but that process stretched past a week before being stalled entirely when Mills dismissed the 46 charges against Strong. The Supreme Judicial Court was forced to make a separate ruling related to the case when a local newspaper filed an expedited appeal to open  the closed-door jury selection to the public.

Jury selection has been on hold pending a decision on whether or not to drop the 46 criminal counts.

On Thursday, before the high court’s decision, Strong’s attorney Daniel Lilley filed a motion with Mills requesting that she lift an order barring him from speaking to reporters while the case is ongoing.

Lilley wrote that the court “has not considered whether even such a blanket prohibition against discussions with the media will be effective in seating a fair and impartial jury, particularly one in which the jurors have already been instructed to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to media reports concerning this case.”

The all-buzz, no-bang trial of Zumba prostitution defendant Mark Strong eased to a slow grind Tuesday as Judge Nancy Mills decided to halt the trial pending an appeal of her decision to dismiss 46 counts against him.

Mills decided not to proceed with the remaining 13 charges against Strong, 57, after a morning hearing, York County Superior Court director of court information Mary Ann Lynch told NBC News in an email.

All of the 46 misdemeanor counts dropped by Mills last week were invasion of privacy charges related to allegations that Zumba instructor Alexis Wright videotaped herself having sex with clients.

Oral arguments in the appeal will be held Feb. 13, according to a scheduling order filed Tuesday.

The 13 remaining counts include promotion of prostitution and conspiracy to promote prostitution. Strong has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.

Strong has been accused of helping Wright, 30, run a prostitution ring out of the dance and exercise studio she operated in the town of Kennebunk, Maine. Wright has been charged with 106 counts including charges of engaging in prostitution. Wright has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and is expected to go on trial later this year.

Accused Zumba pimp trial begins in disorder

The judge also decided to stay jury selection on Tuesday, a process that has taken far longer than was expected.

“This jury panel is here through the end of February,” Mills told attorneys on Tuesday, according to the Portland Press Herald. “Obviously they have not been dismissed or discharged, and depending on how the time frames of this case works, they may serve.”

Jury selection became complicated last week, with zero jurors out of the original pool of 140 seated after four days. The proceedings were conducted behind closed doors until Thursday, when the Maine Supreme Judicial court ruled on an appeal filed by Maine Today Media, and said that the process had to be opened to the public.

Only 39 potential jurors remain from the starting pool as of Tuesday, according to Lynch. 

The man accused of helping a Maine Zumba teacher run a prostitution ring from her dance studio said in an interview with the TODAY show that the two had an “intimate” but not a “love” relationship.

Jury selection began Tuesday morning at the York County Superior Courthouse in the case of Mark Strong, 57, an insurance agent who has also worked as a private investigator. Strong has pleaded not guilty to 59 misdemeanor counts of promotion of prostitution and violation of privacy.

Dance instructor Alexis Wright, 30, has pleaded not guilty to charges that include 45 counts of engaging in prostitution, violation of privacy, and conspiring to promote prostitution. Her trial is not expected to start until May.

Justice Nancy Mills and attorneys for Strong and the state quizzed the more than 140 potential jurors called into the courtroom on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. Potential jurors filled out a 10-page questionnaire and were questioned about their views on pornography, adultery and prostitution.

“You may be shown explicit videos and photographs depicting individuals engaged in graphic sexual acts,” the confidential juror questionnaire asked. “Would viewing this evidence make it difficult for you to listen to the law and evidence and render a fair and impartial verdict?”

The questionnaire also asks jurors if they know or are related to any of 72 potential witnesses who may be called in the course of what is expected to be a weeks-long trial.

Zumba prostitution suspect: I 'did not' pay for sex

In his interview with TODAY, Strong denied paying Wright for sex or helping her promote prostitution.

“I have been harassed. I received threatening phone calls, threatening my life,” Strong said in the TODAY interview.

“This is a long and laborious process, most of which is not public,” defense attorney Daniel Lilley said during a break in jury selection on Tuesday, according to the AP. One-third of the potential jury pool was dismissed Tuesday, and the selection process continued Wednesday.

Joel Page / AP file

Alexis Wright is shown during her arraignment Oct. 9 in Portland, Maine.

Strong’s trial will commence as soon as jury selection is complete, Mary Ann Lynch, director of court information for the York County Superior Courthouse, said in an email to NBC News on Tuesday night.

The saga has kept the seaside town of Kennebunk, Maine, where Wright operated her dance and exercise studio, on edge.

“There’s still some of that puritanical New England left around,” Kennebunk store owner Will Bradford told the AP in October.

Court documents filed by Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan on Oct. 18 in the state’s superior court detail materials seized in the discovery process, including a number of computers, cameras and external hard drives.

Talks to strike a plea deal for Strong fell apart last week, the Boston Globe reported.

Zumba prostitution case heads to trial after plea deal fails

Rich Beauchesne / Reuters file

Alexis Wright 29, of Wells, Maine, is accused of running a prostitution business in Kennebunk.

A closed-door plea deal failed Friday for a Maine man accused of working alongside a dance teacher in running a prostitution business from a Zumba studio.

A judge ruled Friday that Mark Strong Sr., 57, will face trial on Tuesday on charges related to the prostitution operation he is accused of running with dance teacher Alexis Wright in her Kennebunk, Maine, Zumba studio, Seacoastonline.com reported.

Strong faces 59 counts of promotion of prostitution and invasion of privacy, while Wright faces 106 counts that also include tax-related charges, according to Seacoastonline.com. The two have pleaded not guilty.

Earlier Friday, Strong's lawyers had met with prosecutors and a judge about a possible plea deal. Now that the deal failed, jury selection for the trial begins Tuesday in York County Superior Court in Alfred, Maine.

The judge also ordered Strong's lawyer, Daniel Lilley, to stay on the case. Lilley asked to withdraw based on claims that his client can't afford to pay for a legal defense or to hire expert witnesses, The Associated Press reported.

At least a third of the 200 people that authorities say paid to have sex with Wright have been identified publicly. The release of the names caused an uproar in and around Kennebunk, a city of 10,000 about 85 miles north of Boston.

Wright is accused of using cameras, laptops and external hard drives to secretly record the encounters. A lawyer for Wright and a lawyer for Strong separately told NBC News earlier this month that there is no evidence to support claims of extortion.

An official told Seacoastonline.com last month that Wright's case was on a trial list for May.

NBC News correspondent Katy Tur contributed to this report.

From the archives, October 2012:

• Names' release in Zumba sex scandal puts innocent in spotlight
• Maine town rocked by Zumba studio prostitution scandal

PORTLAND, Maine - Gay and lesbian couples exchanged their vows early Saturday as Maine's new same-sex marriage law took effect a minute after midnight.

Among them were Steven Bridges and Michael Snell, who held a commitment ceremony six years ago but wanted to make their marriage official under state law.

"It's historic. We've waited our entire lives for this," said Bridges, a retail manager, who's been in a relationship with the Snell, a massage therapist, for nine years. Bridges, 42, and Snell, 53, wore lavender and purple carnations on black T-shirts with the words "Love is love."

With Snell's two adult daughters looking on, they exchanged their vows in the city clerk's office after getting the first marriage license issued to a same-sex couple in Portland. They said they'll hold another ceremony with friends this summer, after the weather warms up.

Voters approved gay marriage in November, making Maine and two other states the first to do so by popular vote. A law is already in effect in Washington state; Maryland's takes effect Tuesday. 

Nine of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia have now legalized gay marriage. Another 31 states have passed constitutional amendments banning it.

In Portland, a half dozen couples huddled with friends and family in freezing temperatures outside the building before the doors to the city clerk's office were opened at 10 p.m. local time.

"We've been together for 30 years, and never thought that this country would allow marriages between gay couples," said Roberta Batt, 71, an antiques dealer and retired physician with silver hair and round eyeglasses. She planned to marry her longtime partner, Mary, who stood nearby.

"We're just very thankful to the people of Maine, and I hope the rest of the country goes the way this state has," she added.

Suzanne Blackburn and Joanie Kunian, of Portland, were among those in line to get their license at midnight, but they didn't plan to wed immediately. One of their grandchildren wanted them to get married on Valentine's Day.

"I don't think that we dared to dream too big until we had the governor's signature," Blackburn said. "That's why it's so important, because it feels real."

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

In Bangor, the city clerk's office was planning to be open on Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. for residents to obtain marriage licenses. The Brunswick town clerk's office was set to be open from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday by appointment. As of midday on Friday, five same-sex couples had booked appointments, the office said.

More lavish same-sex weddings are being booked starting in the spring at the On the Marsh Bistro in Kennebunk, said owner Denise Rubin.

"We support it wholeheartedly," she said. "We look forward to being part of a whole new wave of wonderful thinking."

The tide of public opinion has been shifting in favor of allowing same-sex marriage. In May, President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to say he believed same-sex couples should be allowed to get married.

A Pew Research Center survey from October found 49 percent of Americans favored allowing gay marriage, with 40 percent opposed. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review two challenges to federal and state laws that define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The nation's highest court said this month it will review a case against a federal law that denies married same-sex couples the federal benefits that heterosexual couples receive. It also will look at a challenge to California's ban on gay marriage, known as Proposition 8, which voters narrowly approved in 2008.

Washington state's law legalizing same-sex unions took effect on Sunday, December 9, and Maryland's law takes effect on January 1, 2013.

This article includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.

More content from NBCNews.com:

• Woman charged in connection with fatal firefighter shootings
• New York City homicides, shootings at modern record lows
• Sheriff orders armed 'posse' to patrol schools
• Snowstorm heads for Northeast, but it's a gentler one
• Landslides take out Amtrak service in rainy Northwest
• The year in quotes quiz: Test your knowledge!
• Video: TODAY's most newsworthy stories of 2012

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook