Harvey Weinstein’s holding cell is so revolting his lawyer argued the ex-movie mogul is dealing with “virtually medieval” circumstances the place he’s detained after courtroom throughout his Los Angeles sexual assault trial.
Legal professional Mark Werksman in his pleas to a choose Tuesday even instructed his disgraced consumer didn’t have a spot to go to the toilet – an assertion shortly shot down by Los Angeles Superior Courtroom Choose Lisa B. Lench.
The complaints come on the second day of jury choice the place Weinstein faces 11 counts of rape and sexual assault.
“It’s virtually medieval, the circumstances,” Werksman mentioned. “He’s 70-years-old. I’m frightened about him surviving this ordeal with out a coronary heart assault or stroke.”
The lawyer additionally mentioned the cell was “unhygienic” and claimed he was left alone for 3 to 4 hours in his wheelchair within the “unsanitary, fetid” holding cell on the courthouse earlier than he was introduced again to jail.
Lench mentioned she would focus on the circumstances with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division, however warned there was little she might do.
“I’m not minimizing it, I’m simply undecided there’s rather a lot to be performed,” she mentioned.
The complaints by Werksman had been lodged earlier than Weinstein and 71 potential jurors entered the courtroom.
When Weinstein, 70, rolled in and climbed into his seat on the protection desk, Werksman repeated his issues and instructed Weinstein lacked a bathroom within the cell, a notion the choose shortly dismissed.
“He’s not disadvantaged of a bathroom, there’s a rest room within the cell,” Lench mentioned. “I’m not going to let the file replicate that he’s disadvantaged of a bathroom.”
Werksman then walked again the insinuation, however argued, “It’s unhygienic, it’s just about unusable, it’s medieval.”
Weinstein’s protection crew has identified his poor well being on many events throughout each his New York trial and the pre-trial hearings on the west coast.
He was convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York in February 2020 and was sentenced to 23 years in jail. However the state’s Courtroom of Appeals agreed to listen to Weinstein’s attraction on the responsible verdict.
The pale and frail man – a far cry from the towering determine he as soon as was within the movie trade – was hospitalized with chest pains and underwent a coronary heart process after he was discovered responsible in 2020. He additionally contracted COVID-19 at one level within the first weeks of the pandemic within the US and suffers from diabetes, his legal professionals have mentioned.
Opening statements within the Los Angeles trial are anticipated to start later this month – 5 years after bombshell studies of sexual misconduct ended his storied profession on the top of the #MeToo motion.
The Oscar-winning ex-film producer faces 4 counts of rape and 7 counts of sexual assault from 5 girls in LA.
With Publish wires
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