Prosecution attorneys yesterday argued that the 25 crime scene photos of Carlos Castro—the Portuguese fashion writer who was castrated and murdered in a Times Square hotel in January—are "too gruesome" to be given to defense lawyers. The judge in the case disagreed, however, saying that lawyers for Renato Seabra—the male model accused of the grisly murder—should be allowed to examine the photographs.
"He is unclothed, and has obviously been beaten, and he has been castrated," assistant district attorney Maxine Rosenthal said yesterday while she tried to prevent the photos from being distributed to the defense. "[Castro] is naked. There is serious mutilation. There is a sensitivity here for the deceased and certainly for his loved ones."
Defense lawyers want copies of the photographs so that a psychiatrist can compare them to Seabra's account of the murder. Seabra is currently planning on using an insanity defense in the murder in which he is said to have stabbed and beaten his sometime lover Castro after he tried to break off their relationship. He also reportedly cut off Castro's testicles with a corkscrew while the fashion writer and gay activist was unconscious before smashing a computer monitor over his head and stomping on his face.
In the end Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon decided to issue a protective order mandating the photos not be copied or published, but ordered that the photos be turned over to the defense.
