Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man who imprisoned three women in his house for over a decade, is heading back to court on Wednesday to be arraigned additional counts that bring the total to 977, according to the Associated Press.
Castro had been arraigned on an earlier indictment that covered 329 counts against him; that indictment only covered a specific time frame, Wednesday's indictment covers the rest of the time Castro imprisoned the three women.
The Huffington Post reports that the total charges against Castro are as follows:
- Two counts aggravated murder. This stems from accusations that Castro beat one of the women until they had a miscarriage. Aggravated murder can carry the death penalty.
- 466 counts of rape.
- 512 counts of kidnapping.
- Seven counts of gross sexual imposition.
- Six counts of felonious assault.
- Three counts of child endangerment.
- One count of possessing criminal tools.
Castro is expected to plead not guilty to the additional counts on Wednesday as he had pleaded not guilty to the earlier 329 counts. Castro's defense team has suggested that their client would be willing to plead guilty on all charges if the prosecution would take the death penalty out of consideration, according to the Associated Press.
Castro is expected to stand trial starting on August 5, although that date could be delayed if the defense needs more time to prepare their case. Castro is being held on $8 million bail at the Cuyahoga County jail where he spends the majority of his time sleeping, according to the Associated Press.
Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight were all taken by Castro after being offered a ride. The three women released a YouTube video last week thanking people who had donated to a fund benefiting them. Otherwise they have done their best to stay out of the public eye since they escaped on May 6, reports the Associated Press.
