A California judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in the embezzlement case against disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti.
U.S. District Judge James Selna of the Central District of California ruled that Avenatti would be granted a new trial after prosecutors failed to turn over computer data in the case.
"I think the defendant was entitled to have that data," Selna said, according to Law.com reporter Meghann Cuniff.
"Shortcomings there may have been, but I find no misconduct, intentional or otherwise, on the part of the taint team," Selna later added.
But, Selna says, "I find that prejudice occurred here in a number of ways."
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) August 24, 2021
Defendant denied opportunity to craft overall case theory and make his opening statement, and to exam witnesses, including expert John Drum.
Avenatti, who has been representing himself, is charged with stealing nearly $10 million from clients to make up for losses his law firm suffered, and to fund his personal lifestyle.
He argued that the documents that prosecutors had not disclosed were material to his defense that he did not cheat clients out of millions of dollars.
"This has been an incredibly difficult journey for my family, for my children for my friends and lastly, for me," Avenatti reportedly said following Selna'a ruling. "I am extremely thankful to Mr. Steward, Ms. Cummings Cefali and our entire team for standing by me and advocating tirelessly on my behalf."
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A new trial will begin Oct. 12, according to Selna.
Avenatti became a media darling when he represented adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2018, when she accused then-President Donald Trump of paying her hush money to cover up an alleged affair. The lawyer faces trial next year for allegedly cheating Daniels out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds for her book.
He was also sentenced in July to 2 1/2 years in prison for attempting to extort millions from Nike by threatening the company with bad publicity.
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