On the second day of jury selection in his two-month-long sexual assault trial, a lawyer for Harvey Weinstein claimed the former movie mogul may not live to see a verdict unless the conditions of his holding cell change. .
Mark Werksman, who represents Weinstein, said his client could have suffered a heart attack or stroke because he was in a wheelchair for four hours before being taken back to L.A.’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility. Alone is kept in an “unhealthy, wasteful” cell, where he is. Continue his current 23-year sentence.
“It’s almost medieval – the conditions,” he said. “I am concerned about his health and ability to survive this ordeal. He is 70 years old.”
Werksman added that he “hated to use the word special treatment” but that Weinstein had pre-existing health problems, including diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and spinal cord injury. Many other problems are involved, including bony stenosis. He submitted four doctors’ letters to the court.
Los Angeles Judge Lisa Lynch responded that she would “talk to the deputies about it” but that she was “not sure there’s much more to be done.” He explained that the Department of Corrections doesn’t have enough wheelchair-accessible vans to quickly transport Weinstein to the Twin Towers when the day’s proceedings are over.
Weinstein faces up to 140 years in prison on 11 counts of sex crimes, including rape, for assaults on five women from 2004 to 2013. Jury selection began Monday.
After Weinstein, dressed in a black suit with a blue tie, was led into the courtroom, Werksman again brought up the terms of the holding cell. She suggested that Weinstein did not have access to a restroom.
“He’s not missing a toilet,” Lynch replied. “There is a toilet in the cell. I will not let the record show that he is deprived of a toilet.
Worksman replied that it was “practically unusable”.
Weinstein’s lawyers have repeatedly made special requests to the court. In September, he asked a private dentist to treat his decaying teeth because he could not get proper treatment in prison. He said the two options he was given while in detention were to have the tooth extracted completely or to allow the tooth to rot further. He also requested permission to undergo eye surgery during his New York trial last year.
A representative for Weinstein did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the first day of the trial on Monday, former actress and wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Jennifer Sybil Newsom, confirmed that she is among the witnesses to testify. In a 2017 HuffPost article, she described a meeting with Weinstein, who invited her to a hotel about a possible role.
“Like so many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein in an alleged business meeting that turned out to be a trap,” Sybil Newsom’s attorney Elizabeth Fagan said in a statement. “She plans to testify at her trial to seek justice for survivors, and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women. Please outside the courtroom. Respect her choice not to discuss the matter.
Jury selection will continue on Wednesday. Opening statements are expected to begin on October 21.