A federal judge in California declared a mistrial on Tuesday in the embezzlement trial of attorney Michael Avenatti, who is charged with stealing millions of dollars in settlement money from several clients.
James Selna, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, ruled on technical grounds that federal prosecutors failed to turn over relevant financial evidence to Avenatti.
An additional hearing in the case was set for Sept. 2, and Selna scheduled a tentative new trial date for Oct. 12, according to a City News Service report published by a local NBC affiliate.
TEARFUL MICHAEL AVENATTI SENTENCED TO TWO AND A HALF YEARS IN PRISON
Avenatti, 50, rose to fame while representing porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal fight against former President Donald Trump, but more recently, he has faced legal battles of his own.
He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on July 8 after being found guilty of an extortion scheme against Nike in a case that played out in New York. The attorney was convicted in February 2020 of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to make corruption allegations involving college athletes public.
And in Southern California, federal prosecutors accused Avenatti of stealing from at least five of his clients and cheating them out of nearly $10 million by negotiating and collecting settlements on their behalf between 2015 and 2019. The attorney is also accused of funneling the payments to accounts he controlled to help bail his law firm out from bankruptcy.
Avenatti maintains he did nothing wrong and that the government erred in its accounting of his expenses.
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The Washington Examiner contacted the District Court for the Central District of California and an attorney for Avenatti but did not immediately receive a response.
