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Aug 1 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Just in: Federal prosecutors want Michael Avenatti to forfeit his jet as part of his sentencing in his California client fraud case. 24-page forfeiture application just filed with Judge Selna. It says Avenatti doesn't oppose the move.
Full filing here. There is a separate case before Judge Carter that involves multiple ownership claims for the jet, as well as a separate forfeiture case with Judge Selna. I'll sort it all out and let you know what I find. bit.ly/3vxhlWG
To be clear: The jet was seized by the feds shortly after Avenatti's arrest in 2019, and it's still in their hands. Here are pictures via @USAO_LosAngeles.
The story of the jet involves two Avenatti clients: Alexis Gardner and William Parrish. Parrish bought the jet with Avenatti, not knowing Avenatti was paying his share w/ Gardner's settlement money. More about Avenatti's relationship with Parrish: bit.ly/3NpJllm
"Parrish is definitely going to fight his heart out for it." - re: the jet
Actually, Parrish's lawyer tells me he's fine with the forfeiture. But one person who may object is Alexis Gardner, the client whose money Avenatti used to buy the jet. Also, an insurance company is suing over the jet seizure. bit.ly/3cYhpZh
Complicating matters, the client whose settlement money Avenatti used for the jet has her own claim. And she's represented by an old Avenatti law partner who is accused in bankruptcy court of conspiring to help Avenatti hide assets. (Got all that?) bit.ly/3BDl8pc
Here's my update, which includes all the details on the competing interests and the jet's co-owner, William Parrish, who has his own Avenatti-related judicial odyssey that's quite the 11-year story. @LawCrimeNews: bit.ly/3blB6d4

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More from @meghanncuniff

Meghann Cuniff Profile picture
Aug 1
ICYMI: The recent affirmation of the death penalty against serial killer Charles Ng chronicles his strange affinity for a noted capital defense lawyer who also defended Lyle Menendez and “Night Stalker” Richard Rameriz. My story for @LawCrimeNews. bit.ly/3zkCcO7
The attorney, Michael Burt, also represented serial killer Joseph Duncan in his 2013 retroactive mental competency hearing in Boise, which I covered for @IdahoStatesman. bit.ly/3zOIYwW
As my @LawCrimeNews article explains, Burt represented Ng in the Canada extradition proceedings and didn't work on the case. But Ng refused to work with his public defenders in Orange County years later, demanding Burt’s appointment. lawandcrime.com/crime/californ…
Read 7 tweets
Meghann Cuniff Profile picture
Jul 27
Just in: Federal agents say they obtained a second search warrant regarding John Eastman's seized cell phone two weeks ago. "The warrant includes a filter protocol, which has been provided to Plaintiff’s counsel."
Intriguing --> "...an agent not associated with the investigation team..." 👀

"The United States is in possession of Plaintiff’s cell phone, as well as a manual screen capture of certain contents of the device obtained by an agent not associated with the investigation team."
One major thing here is prosecutors confirming Eastman's phone is "in the possession of federal agents with the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General, which investigates government misconduct."
Read 6 tweets
Meghann Cuniff Profile picture
Jul 26
A judge is allowing Vanessa Bryant’s lawyers to question witnesses about deleted photos of the Kobe helicopter crash. There’s also going to be a jury instruction about it.

“The court has no difficulty concluding that plaintiffs have been prejudiced.”
bit.ly/3ouHG3R
Really just an avalanche of bad news for LA County from Judge Walter this morning in Vanessa Bryant's lawsuit. One minor win: He's letting their expert testify over objections from Bryant's lawyers. But Bryant's team gets to depose him this week and can offer a rebuttal expert.
Judge Walter also said this to the county lawyers after rejecting Bryant's request to prevent the expert testimony. “It seems to me that the Dr. Cohen testimony could well backfire, but I’ll leave it up to you.” So, tough to say how big of a win letting him testify really is.
Read 4 tweets
Meghann Cuniff Profile picture
Jul 25
Happening now: Civilian commission hearing into deputy gangs within in LA County Sheriff's Department. "As you know, this is not the first time the sheriff has presented a just in the nick of time excuse for not testifying," special counsel Bert Deixler facebook.com/LACountyCOC/vi…
Deixler says he learned Villanueva was backing out of testifying from Twitter and doesn't have a copy of his letter.

"To say they border on the frivolous is an overstatement," Commissioner Robert Bonner says of the sheriff's demands.

Sheriff's letter below. Image
Commissioner Bonner said the sheriff's statement about strongly believing in public scrutiny and oversight is "laughable."
"We expect either him to be held in contempt or for the sheriff to appear before this body" at the next meeting. Same goes for the undersheriff.
Read 4 tweets
Meghann Cuniff Profile picture
Jul 22
Here's a courtroom gaffe for the ages: Mongols hearing is on a break and Judge Carter is doing a scheduling conference in an employment lawsuit. Allegation is a Black man was called Kunta Kinte. Carter asked if that's from the Lion King and said his grandkids watch it.
Attorney replied no, Kunta Kinte is a character from a movie about the slave trade.

(Actually, Roots was a book before it was a movie. And everyone should read it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunta_Kin…)
Good point. It actually wasn’t a movie; it was a TV miniseries.
Read 5 tweets
Meghann Cuniff Profile picture
Jul 22
🧵 45 years ago, two Mongols bikers known as Jingles and Redbeard were machine-gunned off their motorcycles on a California freeway. The carnations that arrived at the mortuary offered a taunting clue to the whodunnit: They were red and white, the colors of the Hells Angels.
In the decades that followed, a relentless battle between the Mongols and Hells left “blood on the floor and bodies in the morgue,” as one lawyer says. It also became the basis for the Mongols’ defense in a 2018 criminal trial that targeted the group’s trademarked patches.
Today, the storied rivalry between the nation’s most notorious bikers will take centerstage at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana as Mongols lawyer Joe Yanny (left) accuses ex-Mongols president Lil Dave Santillan (right) of secretly working as a federal informant.
Read 23 tweets

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