Avenatti trial expected to be delayed

SANTA ANA (CNS) — The Santa Ana federal trial of convicted attorney Michael Avenatti, currently set to begin Aug. 17, will be delayed due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to records obtained Friday.

Avenatti’s attorney, in a lengthy brief filed this week, said prosecutors have deluged the defendant with evidence, much of which is difficult to access because of government offices being closed during the pandemic as well as terms of Avenatti’s house arrest, which restricts his use of computers.

The newly filed court papers also spell out in minute detail what the defendant described as his nightmarish experience in the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center before and after his conviction in that state for a $25 million shakedown of Nike.

Last month, Avenatti convinced U.S. District Judge James Selna to release him from the New York jail and let him remain in custody under house arrest in California because of his vulnerability to Coronavirus amid an outbreak at the lockup.

Avenatti is also awaiting trial in New York for allegedly cheating adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels out of money owed her. That trial was scheduled for Oct. 13. Avenatti is scheduled to be sentenced in the Nike case on Aug. 19.

The defendant’s request for more time in his Orange County case, in which he is accused stealing several million dollars from clients, also touched on the age and health of his attorney, Dean Steward, who is 68 and has diabetes.