If Ariel Castro's lawyer is to be believed, corrections officials in Ohio may have some serious explaining to do. This morning--literally hours after Castro was found dead in his cell--Castro's lawyer claimed that he'd asked for an independent psychiatric evaluation of his client, only to be turned down both times.
“There's no doubt that he had psychological problems, and it's obvious, throughout the case, that's what this case was about – somebody who was deeply disturbed,’’ Castro’s attorney, Craig Weintraub, told Willie Geist on TODAY Wednesday.Watch the full interview here:“We'll find out exactly what happened. I understand that the public in general is probably going to say, 'Well, good riddance.' But this is a human being, we are in a civilized society, and we expect that the person will be protected when they’re institutionalized, and so there is an obligation on the part of the prisons. I would doubt that the prison officials would dispute that they have an obligation to ensure that there won't be a suicide or anything else. And we pray that there wasn't anything else.”
Weintraub claimed that his requests for an independent forensic evaluation during Castro’s final days at the county jail before he was sent to the Lorain Correctional Institution were denied. A request to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to get him a forensic evaluation while in Lorain was also denied, according to Weintraub.
Weintraub says that he and Castro's family only found out about Castro's death via media reports--a slipup by itself. He also said that he fully intends to get to the bottom of how Castro died, especially considering that he was only incarcerated for 30 days. If it is in fact true that Castro's lawyer was seeking help for his client and it was turned down, then said denial is flat-out inexcusable.
The discussion thread on Today.com is disturbing to say the least. Nearly all the commenters are whooping with joy that Castro's gone, and think Weintraub needs his head examined for speaking up. They don't remember that even the lowest of the low have rights too.