Michael Avenatti was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with his theft from Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors claimed that Avenatti, who assisted Daniels in negotiating the $800,000 advance for her October 2018 book “Full Disclosure,” defrauded his former client by instructing her literary agent to send two of the advance instalments, totaling nearly $300,000, to an account controlled by him instead of directly to Daniels, without her knowledge.
Avenatti expressed his disappointment at the decision to reporters outside a federal courtroom in lower Manhattan on Friday.
The jury’s decision has left me quite unhappy. I am looking forward to a thorough review of all of the matters on appeal. “CNN spoke with Avenatti.
On May 24, Avenatti is set to be sentenced.
The judgement came after a tumultuous day in which the jury sought assistance from the judge, alleging that one of the 12 members was “acting on a gut instinct” rather than evaluating the facts.
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One jury is unwilling to look at the facts and is operating only on instinct. We need help in order to proceed. She refuses to show us how she arrived at her conclusion because she does not feel she has to defend her point with evidence. ” According to Judge Jesse Furman, the message said
Please assist us in moving ahead without any proof, all emotions, and do not comprehend this role of a jury,” the message said, underlining the word “please.”
Avenatti filed a motion for a mistrial, claiming that the jury was plainly deadlocked and that any further instruction or action would be coercive.
“I don’t believe we’re there yet,” Furman said after considering the move.
Avenatti argued that the instruction’s wording could “appear to persuade a potential hold-out jury for acquittal,” and told the court that it could “appear to persuade a potential hold-out jury for acquittal.”The judge remarked on Avenatti’s belief that the jury was biassed against him and said that they had no means of knowing how the jury was divided.
Since Wednesday, the jury has been deliberating.
Furman also turned down prosecutors’ request for the jury foreperson to identify the dissenting juror so that the court may consider sanctions such as dismissal for refusing to deliberate.
The judge called the jury into the courtroom just before noon to remind them of their responsibilities to deliberate based on the evidence and to encourage them to keep moving ahead. When analysing evidence to reach a judgement, jurors are not to be “swayed by pity or emotion,” according to the instruction.
The judge’s instructions elicited no noticeable emotions from the jury of seven women and five men.
CNN interview with Daniels
The judge reviewed his previous order refusing Avenatti’s motion for a mistrial based on Daniels’ Friday appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” calling it “beyond ridiculous” after the jury had gone to lunch. The interview, according to Avenatti, was “outrageous.”
In the interview, Daniels stated that she was “astonished” that the jury was still deliberating and that she suspected there could be some prejudice against her because of her employment in the adult film business and her belief in paranormal phenomena.
Daniels told CNN’s Brianna Keilar, “Who cares what I believe in, who cares what my faith is, where I work, what I’ve done?”
“Theft is theft, forgery is forgery — it shouldn’t matter,” she said, “it seemed very clear and simple.”
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She claims that if Avenatti is found not guilty, it “sets a precedent that is incredibly terrible for anybody in the adult film industry and anyone who works in the paranormal sector or simply does paranormal as a hobby.”
“It’s practically giving people full permission to conduct crimes against us and get away with it,” she added.
The judge admitted to seeing the interview, but there was no indication that any of the jurors did as well. He recommended both sides keep their media statements to a minimum.
Stormy Daniels’ harrowing testimony
After being slammed with three federal charges in a six-week span in 2019, the former lawyer, a vehement Trump critic who once mulled a presidential run, plummeted in popularity.
After six days of evidence from ten witnesses, the government rested its case against Avenatti on Monday morning. Avenatti refused to testify in his own defence and did not call any witnesses after dismissing his court-appointed counsel on the second day of the trial to represent himself.
When asked whether he regretted representing himself or not testifying after the judgement, he answered, “Not in the least.” I was honest with myself. “
The literary agent, Luke Janklow, testified before the jury that Avenatti directed communication concerning the book deal financials to him, at times directing Janklow not to respond to Daniels’ texts. Prosecutors also revealed emails and text messages detailing Avenatti’s attempts to reroute cash to an account he controlled.
In the government’s case, Daniels testified for nearly seven hours over two days.
Prosecutor Robert Sobelman sifted through months of text communications between Daniels and Avenatti, in which she inquired about the status of her third book advance payment, which totaled over $150,000.
Avenatti informed Daniels in text messages that he was “working on it” and that the publishing firm was withholding money from her because she hadn’t satisfied the book’s promotional demand.
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Avenatti claimed in a statement to CNN ahead of the trial that he was “quite confident” in his case and that he was “entirely innocent of these allegations.” The government is spending millions of dollars to bring me to justice in a case that should never have been brought in the first place. “
When Avenatti cross-questioned him, Daniels responded, “You lied to me. That’s not respectful.” She was responding when he questioned whether she had told the government during pretrial interviews that he was normally “kind and courteous.” Daniels ultimately admitted to making the remark, but added, “I was wrong.”
As a result of his work representing Daniels, Avenatti became a familiar face on cable television. Daniels was a central figure in the hush-money scandal that led to the indictment of Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney of President Donald Trump, for campaign finance violations stemming from payments made to women who claimed affairs with Trump.
During his cross questioning of Daniels, Avenatti reviewed the 2016 hush money payments Cohen made on Trump’s behalf to Daniels, peppering her with questions regarding her past public denials of the romance with Trump. (Trump has denied the relationship.)
Cohen was recently freed after completing a jail and home confinement term after pleading guilty to those and other charges.
When asked about media claims that she had a “romantic affair” with Trump at the time, Daniels said, “It was not romantic.”
Daniels said on Friday, “I did not have a connection with Donald Trump.” “I don’t consider being cornered coming out of the restroom to constitute an affair,” she stated without prompting.
Avenatti fears jail time for additional fraud convictions.
In April 2020, Avenatti was freed from the now-defunct Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, citing worries about COVID-19 as the epidemic spread. Prior to the trial, he was held in solitary confinement at a friend’s condominium in California.
Avenatti was found guilty in New York in February 2020 of trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike by threatening to publicly accuse the sports apparel company of illegally bribing amateur basketball players. Last July, he was sentenced to 30 months in jail, and he’ll be reporting to a federal prison labour camp in Oregon.
Awaiting the outcome of the ongoing legal proceedings, his report date for that sentence has been postponed.
According to the lawsuit, Avenatti recently filed a formal claim for $94 million in damages against the Bureau of Prisons for his treatment at MCC, where he believes he was treated badly in deplorable circumstances on the orders of then-Attorney General William Barr.
At least five of Avenatti’s clients were accused of receiving roughly $10 million in settlement cash for personal use, and a federal court ruled a mistrial in that case. Last August, the court approved Avenatti’s motion for a mistrial on technical grounds, ruling that prosecutors neglected to turn over financial evidence to his team. Avenatti, who also defended himself in that case, has requested a retrial, although it is uncertain if he will be tried again.
Avenatti is now in the midst of a second trial in California, where he is accused of tax and bank fraud. He has entered a not guilty plea.
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source: edition.cnn
