Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer is not thrilled with the conditions of his client’s holding cell where he’s awaiting trial.
The disgraced Hollywood film producer is currently standing trial in Los Angeles for several sex crime charges revealed five years ago during the height of the #MeToo movement. Weinstein’s lawyer, Mark Werksman, told the judge Tuesday that his client’s accommodations were unacceptable and that he didn’t even have a place to use the bathroom.
“It’s almost medieval, the conditions,” Werksman said, according to The New York Post. “He’s 70 years old. I’m worried about him surviving this ordeal without a heart attack or stroke.”
The lawyer described the cell as “unhygienic” and said Weinstein was left alone for three to four hours in his wheelchair in the “unsanitary, fetid” holding cell before being transported back to jail.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench said she would look into the matter but didn’t promise any changes. “I’m not minimizing it, I’m just not sure there’s a lot to be done,” she said. Judge Lench also said the claim that there wasn’t an available toilet was a falsehood.
“He’s not deprived of a toilet, there is a toilet in the cell,” the judge said. “I’m not going to let the record reflect that he’s deprived of a toilet.”
Werksman conceded that was true but fought back saying the toilet was, “unhygienic, it is virtually unusable, it is medieval.”
Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York in February 2020 and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is currently appealing that guilty verdict. The former producer has had multiple medical issues in recent months, including contracting COVID and being hospitalized with chest pain.
In September, he pleaded with the judge for leniency so he could deal with “painful” rotting molars by visiting the dentist.
“This situation is an emergency,” Weinstein said in September, The Daily Wire previously reported. “I will pay for the dentist … it will be one trip and one trip only.”
“I’m in pain every day. I have cavities and I can’t eat because I’m missing teeth,” the former Hollywood executive explained. Weinstein said he wanted to get a bridge or dental implants so he could appear “presentable” in the future, especially during his appeal.
Werksman also argued on his client’s behalf, saying Weinstein would look “ridiculous” and “like a caricature” if the molars were removed and not replaced.