The jury considering the fate of California lawyer Michael Avenatti on charges he cheated Stormy Daniels out of book proceeds says one juror is refusing to look at the evidence.
The jury foreperson told Judge Jesse Furman in a note Friday that the juror is acting on feelings and emotions. The note came in the second full day of deliberations. The judge reminded jurors of his original legal instructions and their pledge to consider the evidence.
Avenatti became famous as he represented Daniels in lawsuits against former President Donald Trump. Daniels is a porn actor whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
In the Friday note from the jury foreperson, it indicated the juror and read, “She does not believe she needs to prove her side using evidence and refuses to show us how she has come to her conclusion,” the Associated Press reported. The note continued with, ”Not going on any evidence, all emotions and does not understand this job of a jury.”
Avenatti, who represented himself in the trial, has had some notably interesting moments. In one exchange reported on by the New York Times, Avenatti asked Daniels during cross-examination, if she had ever experienced a "dark entity" enter her room through a "portal," some years ago. Daniels replied, "That's what I was told by a medium."
Avenatti is accused of stealing around $300,000 in payments that were meant to go to Daniels, with the allegations claiming that he used a fake letter to trick her literary agent, the Times reported.
Also according to the New York Times, Daniels claims that Avenatti used a $130,000 payment along with a nondisclosure agreement just before Donald Trump was elected president to try and silence her so she wouldn't talk about at least one sexual encounter she had with Trump at one point, Daniels alleges.