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The embezzlement trial of attorney Michael Avenatti, who is accused of stealing millions in settlement money from clients, ended in a mistrial Tuesday as U.S. District Judge James. V. Selna ruled that federal prosecutors failed to turn over relevant financial evidence to Avenatti, the Associated Press reported.
The trial was the second in recent months for Avenatti, who captured the nation's attention when he represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against then-President Donald Trump. Selna scheduled a tentative new trial date for October 12 and another hearing is set for September 2.
In July, Avenatti was sentenced to more than two years in prison for his involvement in a $25 million extortion case in New York. This time, prosecutors in Southern California said the 50-year-old lawyer cheated five clients out of almost $10 million by negotiating and cashing in on settlements on clients' behalf. He then allegedly funneled the payment to accounts under his control and lied about the whereabouts of the money.
"We represented thousands of little guys, the Davids versus the Goliaths," Avenatti told the jury in an opening statement. "We gave people who had no chance a fighting chance."
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
In one instance, prosecutors alleged Avenatti collected $4 million from Los Angeles County for a man who suffered injuries in custody and was left paraplegic after a suicide attempt, paying out much smaller amounts that he told the man were advances.
In another case, prosecutors said Avenatti collected a $2.75 million settlement for a client and used the bulk of the money to buy a private plane.
Avenatti, who is suspended from practicing law in California but was representing himself at trial, had pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of wire fraud in connection with the allegations spanning from 2015 to 2019. He denied embezzling money and said his law firm was entitled to recoup expenses if settlements were reached.
In addition to these counts, Avenatti faces charges of bankruptcy, bank and tax fraud in California. He is expected to be tried on those allegations later this year after Selna split a 36-count indictment into two trials.
The mistrial was first reported by the legal news service Law360.
Avenatti also faces another criminal case in New York in which he is charged with cheating Daniels out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Avenatti represented her in 2018 in lawsuits against Trump and often appeared on cable news programs to disparage the Republican president.
