Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer is disturbed by the conditions of his client’s holding cell.
The New York Post reported Attorney Mark Werksman made the comments about the conditions in his pleas to a judge Tuesday.
“It’s almost medieval, the conditions,” Werksman said.
He added, “He’s 70-years-old. I’m worried about him surviving this ordeal without a heart attack or stroke.”
According to Werksman, the cell was “unhygienic” and Weinstein was left by himself for three to four hours in his wheelchair in the “unsanitary, fetid” holding cell at the courthouse before being transported back to jail, as the Post reported.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench told the attorney she would discuss the matter with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, but suggested there was not much she could do.
“I’m not minimizing it, I’m just not sure there’s a lot to be done,” she said.
Lench dismissed the claim that Weinstein did not have access to a toilet in his cell.
“He’s not deprived of a toilet, there is a toilet in the cell,” Lench said. “I’m not going to let the record reflect that he’s deprived of a toilet.”
Still, Werksman argued, “It is unhygienic, it is virtually unusable, it is medieval.”
In March 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for charges related to rape and sexual abuse.
“We thank the survivors for their remarkable statements today and indescribable courage over the last two years,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said at the time.
He added, “Harvey Weinstein deployed nothing less than an army of spies to keep them silent. But they refused to be silent, and they were heard. Their words took down a predator and put him behind bars and gave hope to survivors of sexual violence all across the world.”
NPR noted the sentencing comes after the collapse of Weinstein’s Hollywood career during which he allegedly sexually assaulted dozens of young women.
