Ariel Castro Court VIDEO & Trial Update: August Date Set for Ohio Kidnapping Case of 3 Missing Women Now Found
A Aug. 4 trial date was set Wednesday for Ariel Castro, the Ohio man accused of kidnapping three women and holding them in his home for about a decade.
The former school bus driver, with his wrists and ankles shackled, appeared in court in Cleveland for a brief hearing and to find out the date of his trial. Keeping his head hanging low and without making eye contact, Castro reportedly answered "yes" when asked questions about the proceedings by the judge, and said he had no questions for the court.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo mentioned plea deal discussions raised by the defense last week and asked that any plea deal that emerges be submitted by attorneys in writing, according to The Associated Press. Castro, 52, faces another pretrial hearing June 26 for the abduction of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
Also on Wednesday lawmakers in Columbus planned to discuss a bill that would provide the three victims years of relief payments, college tuition and medical assistance.
Castro remains jailed on $8 million bail. He pleaded not guilty in court on June 12 to 329 counts of rape, torture and murder. The charges include 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.
He is also charged with two counts of aggravated murder for "purposely and with prior calculation and design causing the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy," County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said earlier in June.
He allegedly forced one of his victims to have an abortion, whom he is accused of impregnating. He also impregnated Berry and she gave birth to a daughter named Jocelyn while in captivity.
Video of him getting booked by police on May 6 was recently released to the public, see here.
