MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A fashion designer and convicted serial rapist who has an open case in New York has asked to be transferred from Rikers Island because the jail is too hot.
A lawyer for Anand Jon Alexander, who appeared on "America's Next Top Model" and reportedly designed clothes for Paris Hilton and Janet Jackson, asked the Department of Corrections to move him to the Manhattan Detention Center on White Street, citing his client's sensitivity to heat.
His lawyer, Jeffrey Chabrowe, 36, said the entire detention center is air conditioned, while areas at Rikers where Alexander often stays are not.
The move would mean a much shorter commute to the criminal courthouse — located next door to the detention center — where Alexander's due for pre-trial court appearances.
The designer is facing various sex charges for incidents involving women that he allegedly lured for modeling tryouts. His indictment also includes a sex charge involving a child.
Chabrowe said his client has passed out from heat exhaustion on lengthy and crowded bus rides from Rikers. His condition is "well documented," according to the lawyer.
But a Department of Corrections attorney, Michael Pocchia, told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers on Tuesday that Alexander's heat issues were "self-diagnosed" and that placement at the Manhattan facility, generally believed to be less harsh than Rikers Island, is reserved for inmates with serious medical needs.
Alexander's complaints are "no different from any other heat-sensitive inmate," Pocchia told the judge.
Carruthers recently ordered Alexander's move to the Manhattan Detention Center at Chabrowe's request, but agreed to reconsider the need for it after further review of his medical records.
An earlier version of this story contained inaccurate information regarding Alexander's criminal history.
