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Law360 (April 27, 2020, 4:32 PM EDT ) Embattled attorney Michael Avenatti called in to a status conference Monday morning for the federal embezzlement case he faces in California, just two days after he was temporarily released from a Manhattan detention center amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In a telephoned status conference, federal prosecutors and Avenatti's attorney updated U.S. District Judge James V. Selna on the largely unchanged discovery review process leading up to the Aug. 18 trial on charges that the attorney defrauded clients and committed bankruptcy fraud.
Prosecutor Julian L. Andre said at this point, Avenatti and his attorney, H. Dean Steward, should have access to all the relevant materials.
But Steward said his client hasn't been able to review anything since his arrest in January, his subsequent four-month stint in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan and a separate trial in New York where he was convicted of extorting Nike Inc. for upward of $25 million.
Avenatti was temporarily released from the detention center Friday after Judge Selna earlier this month ordered he be released amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, Steward said he is working on getting Avenatti access to the materials that need to be reviewed and trying to figure out how his client can get access to everything.
"We're going to take it one day at a time and do the best we can," Steward told the judge.
Andre said it wasn't accurate to say it was impossible for Avenatti to review the discovery materials and asserted that nothing has prevented Avenatti from working on the case while in jail.
At that point, Avenatti asked Judge Selna if he could speak to the government's comment, but Steward jumped in and asked his client not to respond.
Judge Selna wrapped up the hearing and set another status conference for June 1, about two months ahead of the scheduled trial.
Avenatti is also set to stand trial in Manhattan starting July 14 on charges of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from former client Stormy Daniels. And In the Nike case he is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17.
A representative for the government and Avenatti's counsel declined to comment Monday.
Avenatti is represented by H. Dean Steward.
The government is represented by Julian L. Andre and Brett A. Sagel of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
The case is U.S. v. Avenatti, case number 8:19-cr-00061, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
--Additional reporting by Daniel Siegal, Stewart Bishop and Pete Brush. Editing by Stephen Berg.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
