By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The jury in lawyer Michael Avenatti’s criminal trial said on Thursday it was struggling to decide whether he had defrauded porn star Stormy Daniels, who he represented in her legal battle with then-President Donald Trump.
Jurors reported being unable to agree after only four hours of deliberations in federal court in Manhattan, where Avenatti, 50, is charged with embezzling nearly $300,000 from book proceeds intended for Daniels, in part by forging her signature.
“We are unable to come to a consensus on count one,” the jury said in a note, referring to the wire fraud charge against Avenatti. “What are our next steps?”
Avenatti faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of wire fraud. If he were acquitted on that charge, then he must also be acquitted on a second charge of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years on conviction.
It would be rare for a judge to deem a jury deadlocked and declare a mistrial after only four hours of deliberations.
Avenatti’s jurors began deliberations on Wednesday afternoon. After receiving the note from jurors on Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman read it in court, then sent them back to resume deliberations.He reminded them to be open to re-examining their views or changing their opinions, while emphasizing that they should not change their minds on Avenatti’s guilt or innocence for the sake of reaching a unanimous verdict.
Avenatti, who is representing himself in the case, has pleaded not guilty to both counts and has downplayed the dispute as a disagreement over legal fees that has no place in federal court.
He has argued that the contract he signed to represent Daniels entitled him to a portion of the book proceeds.
The brash Los Angeles-based lawyer rose to fame in 2018 while representing Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, in lawsuits against Trump.
Daniels, 42, is known for receiving $130,000 in hush money from Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to keep quiet ahead of the 2016 election about sexual encounters she says she had with the politician and businessman, who denies they took place.
Avenatti successfully sued Trump to get Daniels out of the nondisclosure agreement.
The criminal charges related to Daniels are among a slew of accusations that have ended Avenatti’s career as a lawyer.
Avenatti is appealing a conviction and a 2-1/2-year prison sentence for extorting Nike Inc, and faces dozens of charges in California that he cheated other clients and committed bank fraud, bankruptcy fraud and tax fraud.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
