The Manhattan jury weighing Michael Avenatti’s fate at his extortion trial Friday asked to again see the video that caught the disgraced lawyer allegedly trying to shakedown Nike for more than $20 million.
Just before jurors were scheduled to adjourn for the day Thursday, they sent a note to the judge asking to see the March 21, 2019, video again in its entirety, as well as other questions for the jurist.
An apparently increasingly impatient Judge Paul Gardephe sighed at the note, saying their questions about “state of mind” inferences were not clear but nevertheless granted the video request Friday morning and played the hourlong clip again for them just before 10 a.m.
The video, recorded by Nike lawyer Scott Wilson, captures him threatening to take billions of dollars off the company’s market cap if they don’t agree to pay him.
“[Have you ever] held the balls of the client in your hand where could take $5 [billion] to $6 billion market cap off of them?” Avenatti asks in the video, days after a series of allegedly threatening phone calls with the lawyers.
He told Wilson that Nike could either pay him $12 million up front to conduct an internal investigation into allegations the sportswear giant made illegal payments to the handlers of rising basketball stars, or the sports apparel could hand over a $22.5 million settlement to make the whole thing just go away.
“Full confidentiality, we ride off into the sunset,” Avenatti said in the clip.
He then laid out his threat, prosecutors alleged, if both sides couldn’t reach an agreement.
“The company will die — not die, but they are going to incur cut after cut after cut after cut, and that’s what’s going to happen as soon as this thing becomes public,” the fallen lawyer said.
“If this is not papered on Monday, we are done.”
Jurors finished watching the clip around 11 a.m. Friday and continued their deliberations.