On Wednesday Michael Russo, the judge overseeing the Ariel Castro case ordered that the suspected kidnapper undergo a competency hearing to determine whether or not he is fit to stand trial. Both the prosecution and the defense agree Castro is competent for trial. The L.A Times says the judge wants to make sure the 52-year-old suspect understand the charges he faces.
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Castro has already pleaded not guilty to the 329 charges of kidnapping. He is accused of kidnapping three Ohio women (two were teenagers at the time of their abduction) and holding them in his home, repeatedly raping and abusing them.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were all taken by Castro who held them in the basement of his home for ten years. Castro fathered Amanda Berry's six-year-old daughter and is also accused of beating Michelle Knight each time she got pregnant forcing a miscarriage. If charged with murder in that crime Castro could face the death penalty.
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Tim McGinty is the prosecutor handling the Castro case. He believes the accused is competent to go to trial and is looking to get back into court as soon as possible.
"We have absolutely no doubt that he's entirely competent, knows exactly what he's doing now and did then," McGinty said in court on Wednesday.
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The three women Castro is accused of kidnapping have been kept out of the media spot light as they reconnect with their families. They have made no public statement since their rescue but lawyers speaking on their behalf made a brief statement suggesting the women want the trial to get underway soon so they can start to move on.
"The longer this process lasts, the more painful it is for them," said Kathy Joseph lawyer for Michelle Knight. "And the more sordid details of this horror that get disclosed in this process, the more painful it is for them."
James Wolly is representing both Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry he added to Joseph's statement saying,
"Again they have faith in the process, but the simple honest truth is they would like it to be over. They want this whole thing behind them. Any date set by which this may end is like [a] light at the end of a tunnel."
Ariel Castro's next hearing will be held on the morning of July 3, 2013.
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