Florida- Joe Francis fired the two attorneys that have been with him from the beginning of his legal problems in Bay County and brought in “super-lawyer” Roy Black to handle his case.

Black wasted no time and filed his first motion on Wednesday, a request for bond that he can file under seal, or out of the public eye. That usually happens when the motion contains medical or psychological documents. The request was not immediately acted on.

Francis, 34, is charged with two counts each of using and conspiring to use minors in a sexual performance. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted as charged.

The charges stem from the filming of two 17-year-old girls performing sex acts with each other in a Panama City Beach motel shower during Spring Break 2003.

Francis was once charged with 43 offenses from 2003, but Circuit Judge Dedee Costello tossed most of the charges after throwing out all the physical evidence collected under a flawed search warrant.

Throughout the course of the case’s four-year history, lawyers Aaron Dyer and Larry Simpson had won nearly every legal argument they presented. In 2004, they convinced Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet that girls baring their breasts in public, regardless of their age, was not prohibited by state law, nor was it illegal to film it.

Dyer and Simpson also filed the motions that got the physical evidence tossed and the majority of the charges dismissed. But recently, the two ran into key losses.

First, Costello found that the charges didn’t require Francis to know how old the girls were when a cameraman filmed them in a sexual situation. The defense had argued that knowledge of age, and therefore criminal intent, was essential to the charge.

Costello refused to dismiss the remaining charges.

Costello also revoked Francis’ bond in the 2003 case when he received new felony charges in Bay County in 2007. Francis had been locked up for federal contempt of court, and while incarcerated at the Bay County Jail, he was charged with smuggling prescription drugs into the facility. Those charges have not been resolved.

Costello revoked Francis’ 2003 bond and ordered him held without bond in the 2007 case, over defense objections. Dyer and Simpson appealed the bond issue, but the First District Court of Appeal upheld Costello’s order.

Francis is in jail in Nevada awaiting trial there on charges of tax evasion. He’s been granted bond, but hasn’t been allowed to leave jail because of Costello’s detainer on him. If he is released from the Nevada jail, he would be returned to the Bay County Jail.

Francis has been locked up for four months.

On Tuesday, Black filed notice with Costello that he would be the new attorney of record, replacing Dyer and Simpson. None of the lawyers was available for comment Wednesday.

Dyer still represents Francis in his tax case in Nevada, and it was not clear Wednesday whether he would stay.