Avenatti wants question limits for prosecution

NEW YORK — Defense attorneys asked a federal judge Saturday to prevent prosecutors from quizzing Michael Avenatti about other criminal charges he faces should he decide to testify about allegations that he tried to extort Nike for millions of dollars.

The celebrity lawyer could take the witness stand as soon as Monday at his New

York trial.

But defense attorneys say that Avenatti will not answer questions concerning his financial condition or two other federal cases in which he is charged with swindling clients and cheating porn actress Stormy Daniels out of book proceeds.

Questions about those topics could create “a trial within a trial” and distract the jury, Avenatti’s attorneys wrote.

Avenatti’s decision to testify — or not — could hinge on whether U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe grants his request to limit his cross-examination to questions about the Nike charges.

“While the extortion and honest services fraud crimes with which he is charged in this case are not insignificant, they do not deliver anything close to the emotional gut-punch of the charges against Mr. Avenatti in the other matters,” the defense attorneys wrote. “Even with a limiting instruction, the jury cannot possibly be expected to dispassionately weigh this evidence.”

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case Monday. They indicated they would seek to ask about Avenatti’s financial condition, his handling of the book proceeds for Daniels and allegations he cheated clients and others out of millions of dollars in Los Angeles.

Avenatti maintains that he did nothing wrong.

Michael Avenatti