Michael Avenatti’s embezzlement case suffers mistrial ruling, gets new dates
Michael Avenatti’s trial on charges he embezzled millions in settlement money from unsuspecting clients was abruptly halted Tuesday when a federal judge in California declared a mistrial over an evidence issue.
U.S. District Judge James Selna said prosecutors failed to provide possibly exculpatory evidence to Avenatti, who is representing himself, making the wire fraud trial that started more than a month ago too flawed to continue.
The evidence involved the bookkeeping software Avenatti’s firm used to manage expenses, according to Law360.
Selna, who said there was no reason to believe prosecutors purposefully committed an offense, set a new hearing in the case for Sept. 2 and a tentative new trial date of Oct. 12.
The client-theft case centers on allegations Avenatti, 50, swindled five clients out of nearly $10 million during a time when he purchased a private plane and was fending off mounting financial woes.
In one of the client cases, Avenatti allegedly collected a $4 million lump-sum from Los Angeles County on behalf of a man who was injured in jail and left paraplegic. Prosecutors claim Avenatti lied to the client about the hefty payout and only paid him a pittance, telling him the money was an advance.
With another client, Avenatti allegedly collected a $2.75 million settlement for a client and used most of the money to buy the plane, prosecutors claim.
The brash, pit-bull attorney who rose to national prominence representing porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal war with former President Donald Trump has been in a free-fall from grace since he was arrested in Manhattan in March 2019 on federal charges he attempted to extort Nike for more than $20 million.
He was convicted in the Nike case and broke down crying when a judge sentenced him to 2½ years in prison in July.
“I lost my way. I betrayed my own values, my friends, my family and myself. I betrayed my profession. I became driven by the things that don’t matter in life,” Avenatti said in Manhattan Federal Court.
Before the mistrial ruling Tuesday, Avenatti appeared to test Judge Selna’s patience during his opening statement in a Santa Ana courtroom last month.
“This case didn’t start with a crime, it started with a target,” Avenatti claimed to the jurors.
“Mr. Avenatti, tell the jury what you’re going to prove,” the judge interjected, reminding the once high-flying lawyer that his opening wasn’t the appropriate time to argue his theories, according to KNX1070 News Radio.
Back in New York, Avenatti is still fighting yet another criminal case involving charges he stole nearly $300,000 from Daniels.
According to prosecutors, he forged Daniels’ signature to divert two advance payments of $148,750 for her tell-all book, “Full Disclosure,” detailing her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
Avenatti is accused of spending Daniels’ money on travel and a Ferrari.
