Judge sets May trial date in Avenatti’s California criminal case

SANTA ANA -- A U.S. judge on Monday set a May 19, 2020 trial date for attorney Michael J. Avenatti in his California criminal case after rejecting his request to access prosecutor files as a broad "fishing expedition."

Prosecutors wanted a February trial, but Avenatti's lawyer, sole practitioner H. Dean Steward, said he doesn't believe he can be prepared by then, given his schedule for other cases and the huge amount of discovery in Avenatti's case.

U.S. District Judge James V. Selna asked Steward if it would be more efficient for him to take on an associate or paralegal, and Steward said he might have to do so.

"That wouldn't be an uncommon delegation of task, would it?" Selna asked.

"I understand that, and it's certainly something I've considered," Steward said. But, Steward added, "The discovery here is just enormous. Even if there's two of us, it's a Herculean task."

If Avenatti had his way, the discovery would be more expansive. Steward filed a motion to compel discovery requesting "unfettered, unmonitored access" to Eagan Avenatti LLP servers as well as digital devices seized from a law firm employee. Lawyers for Brian Weiss, the court-appointed receiver managing Eagan Avenatti, opposed the request, as did assistant U.S. attorneys Brett A. Sagel and Julian L. André. Sagel and André's opposition included sealed documents about the federal investigation that relate to Eagan Avenatti office manager Judy Regnier as well as the X-Law Group and its owner Filippo Marchino, who is a close associate of Avenatti.

In a ruling issued tentatively on Friday and confirmed Monday, Selna determined Steward's request was a "broad brush demand" that ignored alternatives proposed by prosecutors, including reviewing the information under the supervision of the U.S. attorney's office privilege review team or Weiss.

"Unfettered access is simply a different turn of phrase to conduct a fishing expedition through the Government's subpoenaed materials," Selna wrote. "The law does not condone that approach."

Meanwhile, Steward is seeking to transfer from the Southern District of New York to California a wire fraud case involving alleged theft from Avenatti's former client, adult film star Stephanie "Stormy Daniels" Clifford. Prosecutors there are opposed, and if a judge sides with them, Steward said he's agreed to an April or May trial. Andre cited that when requesting an earlier trial date because he believes the California case should proceed before the Clifford case.