U.S. District Court Senior Judge James Selna of the Central District of California on Monday laid down rules for the trial on embezzlement charges of one-time prominent and monied Los Angeles attorney Michael J. Avenatti. Voir dire is slated to start July 13. That will come just five days after Avenatti is to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the Southern District of New York on attempted extortion and wire fraud counts.

Opening statements in Selna’s Santa Ana courtroom are scheduled for July 20.

Avenatti moved for an order in limine to exclude evidence, as Selna put it, “of his wealth, spending habits, debts, financial condition, and spending habits. The judge ruled:

“To the extent that the Government offer evidence of Avenatti’s ‘life style of luxury, flash, and glamour…, the Court excludes such evidence as more prejudicial than probative. This includes specifically cars and apartment rent. While such evidence may support a finding of motive, it reeks of classes. The Government's effort's to show that ‘he was jet-setting around the world, dining at fancy restaurants making expensive purchases, and otherwise projecting a life style and wealth’ falls into the same category….The Court acknowledges the many authorities which have permitted lifestyle evidence….However, in every case, it is a question of degree of prejudice. Here the Court finds that there is substantial likelihood of prejudice that is not counter-balanced by its probative value. The Government's own description of its evidence presents such fascinating sparkle that the jury is likely to be diverted from, and prejudiced it in addressing, its main inquiry: Did Avenatti divert funds to which he was not entitled.

“Proof of Avenatti's debts outstanding at the time of his alleged embezzlements, with reference only to the generic nature of the debt, may be admitted. Such evidence is more probative than prejudicial.”

Selna noted:

“Between 2015 [sic], Avenatti settled four civil lawsuits for aggregate of approximately $16.5 million. In the so-called Client Counts, Avenatti is alleged to have misappropriated portions of the settlement funds not due him. The underlying cases involved violations of constitutional rights, an intellectual property dispute, a dispute among owners of a company, and a dispute over the distribution of Superbowl tickets. No two cases were factually similar.”

He barred such evidence.

Avenatti is in home confinement in the Venice, Calif. abode of a friend, Jay Manheimer.

State Bar disciplinary charges were filed July 29, 2019, but proceedings were abated on Sept. 17 of last year in light of pending charges before Selna based on allegedly cheating clients and committing bankruptcy fraud. In light of the conviction in the case tried in New York, and the prospect of a sentence of 40 years or more in prison, State Bar proceedings against him are relegated to little significance, with it looming as a virtual certainty that he will ultimately be disbarred. He is under suspension based on his conviction.

The case tried before a jury in Gardephe’s courtroom stemmed from Avenatti’s effort to exact a sum of about $25 million from Nike by threatening to blacken its reputation in litigation if it did not comply.

Avenatti is also charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York with cheating former client Stormy Daniels, a porn star, out of $300,000. The money Avenatti is accused of taking was an advance to Daniels in connection with her book, “Full Disclosure,” in which she tells of her affair with then-President Donald Trump.

Avenatti allegedly forged her signature on a letter to her literary agent, directing that payments be sent to a bank account he controlled.

The lawyer handled a number of high-profile cases, including representation of Daniels—whose actual name is Stephanie Clifford—in her actions against then-President Donald Trump in an effort to skirt a 2016 nondisclosure agreement she signed in connection with a $130,000 pay-off to her for agreeing not to talk publicly of their affair in 2006. He also handled her action against the then-president for defamation.

He is a litigant in a dissolution of marriage case in Orange Superior Court. In October, he was granted visitation rights with his son, age 6.

The one-time prominent trial lawyer was placed on involuntary inactive status by the State Bar on March 9. Disciplinary charges were filed March 30 alleging 14 counts involving the large-scale cheating of clients.

He has been placed in a conservatorship based on short-term memory loss, is being sued for divorce by his wife, actress/singer Erika Jane, is in bankruptcy proceedings, and is facing litigation involving millions of dollars.

However, he now professes a lack of assets, saying in court papers last year:

“At one point I had about $80 million or $50 million in cash. That’s all gone. I don’t have any money.”

Disbarred lawyer Philip James Layfield is facing a federal prosecution on multiple counts in connection with allegedly stealing his client’s funds and cheating on his taxes. The trial, repeatedly postponed, is now scheduled for Aug. 10.

 As federal investigators closed in on him on 2017, Layfield fled to Costa Rica in June of that year, was in the United States for two days in October 2017, returned to Costa Rica, and came back to the U.S. on Feb. 19, 2018. He was arrested in New Jersey one week later and was indicted here on March 9, 2018.

The prosecution began in connection with Layfield having pocketed settlement funds belonging to Josephine Nguyen, who was a client of the then-firm of Layfield & Barrett. She was to receive 60 percent of a $3.9 million settlement of her personal injury claim, amounting to $2.3 million.

A superseding indictment expanded the scope of the prosecution to include tax evasion and fraud for 2016 and 2017. As Layfield’s lawyer, Anthony M. Solis, summed up the charges, in a memorandum of points and authorities filed in July, the superseding indictment “alleges a broad scheme perpetrated by defendant Philip Layfield to, essentially, fleece his clients of their settlement funds, cheat attorneys out of their agreed-upon referral fees and fail to honor various tax obligations owed to the United States.”

Some of the counts have been dismissed.

The defendant was released on a $100,000 bond and is presently residing in Las Vegas.