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Los Angeles, CA - Prosecutors pushed back Friday on Tom Girardi's request to ask prospective jurors in his California federal fraud trial if they have seen his wife's television show or reports about his law firm's scandal, arguing that Girardi's fame is not comparable to that of convicted attorney Michael Avenatti, whose case included a written juror questionnaire.

Federal prosecutors acknowledged that written juror questionnaires have been used in the past, including for Avenatti, who like Girardi was accused of stealing client funds. However, they asserted in their motion that such a questionnaire is unnecessary for Girardi's upcoming trial.

Avenatti was convicted in California federal court of stealing from clients and was also convicted in separate cases of extortion and stealing from his former client, Stormy Daniels. Girardi pointed to Avenatti's questionnaire in his recent motion, but prosecutors argued that while both face similar claims of theft from clients, Girardi lacks Avenatti's level of fame.

Avenatti had "been a regular fixture on cable news for his attacks on former President Trump," prosecutors said in the motion. "Indeed, unlike the news coverage on defendant Girardi, which is predominantly covered by local media, Avenatti was frequently featured in news publications and broadcasts across the country."

Despite the pretrial publicity, Avenatti's juror questionnaire revealed that he actually wasn't that famous, which undermines Girardi's argument for needing a questionnaire, prosecutors argued.

"Moreover, defendant's claim that his status as a former 'legal titan' ... confers wide public awareness of him is undercut by the fact that of the approximately 150 prospective Avenatti jurors who responded to questionnaires, 109 of them (i.e., 73%) had never heard of Michael Avenatti," they said.

Girardi's defense team urged U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton earlier this month to issue questionnaires to prospective jurors about their media consumption, saying many may have been biased by highly publicized details about his firm's alleged theft from clients. The scandal has been featured in news articles, documentaries, and the Bravo reality series "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," which stars Girardi's estranged wife, Erika Jayne.

The motion is part of the pretrial wrangling leading up to Girardi's long-awaited criminal trial, which is set to begin on August 6.

Girardi was a prominent plaintiffs lawyer in California, famed for his role in obtaining a $333 million water pollution settlement dramatized in the 2000 film "Erin Brockovich." However, in December 2020, an Illinois federal judge found that he and his firm, Girardi Keese, had misappropriated at least $2 million in settlement funds meant for the survivors of plane crash victims. Other former clients have made similar claims, and both Girardi and his firm have been forced into bankruptcy.

In early 2023, Girardi was charged with wire fraud over the alleged theft of millions from his firm's ex-clients. Girardi Keese's former chief financial officer, Christopher Kamon, has also been charged and accused of siphoning off millions of dollars in a "side-fraud" scheme. Both have pled not guilty, and in early January Girardi, who claimed to have dementia, was found competent to stand trial.

Girardi's legal team argued in a recent motion that the publicity surrounding the case requires jurors to be questioned individually, and that a court-issued questionnaire would shorten the in-courtroom voir dire process.

In arguing against a questionnaire, prosecutors said cases cited by Girardi to support one were not comparable. They also pointed to other high-profile cases in the Central District of California and elsewhere where judges rejected the need for a juror questionnaire, including criminal corruption cases for former Los Angeles City Councilmembers Jose Huizar and Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Prosecutors also said that much of Girardi's motion focuses on his estranged wife, who is not scheduled to be called as a witness.

"A fulsome voir dire process is certainly necessary in this trial; however, the court already has in place sufficient protocols to ensure a fair and impartial jury without expending the additional resources," prosecutors said in the motion.

The government is represented by E. Martin Estrada, Mack E. Jenkins, Scott Paetty, and Ali Moghaddas of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Girardi is represented by J. Alejandro Barrientos, Samuel Cross, and Charles Snyder of the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Central District of California.

Kamon is represented by Michael Vincent Severo of the Law Offices of Michael V. Severo APC.

The case is U.S. v. Girardi, case number 2:23-cr-00047, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.