By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — A lawyer for the Portuguese model accused in the gruesome murder and castration of a gay rights activist says his client is "deteriorating" on Rikers Island.
Renato Seabra, 21, a finalist on the Portuguese version of "America's Next Top Model," was arrested after Carlos Castro, 65, was found dead in his hotel room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Midtown on January 7.
Seabra, who reportedly confessed to police and said he was trying to "rid [Castro] of his homosexuality," had been held at Bellevue Hospital under psychiatric surveillance after the attack.
But his lawyer, Doug Touger, said Friday that his client was transferred to Rikers Island two weeks ago, adding that Seabra was "deteriorating" in the jail.
While Touger clarified that his client was not being held in the general population of the detention facility, he charged that the jail was not administering the model's psychiatric medications on a regular enough basis, worsening his condition.
Touger was speaking outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where Seabra had earlier appeared for a hearing.
Seabra appeared slightly dazed, wearing a newly grown goatee and gray suit.
A woman identified by Touger as Seabra's mother was also in the courtroom, though she declined to comment on her son's situation. Touger said she is staying in New York and visiting her son three times a week.
Seabra's next court appearance was scheduled for June 3, when defense council is expected to submit a report on his mental health. Touger said he would hold off until then on determining if they would pursue an insanity defense in the case.
The attorney said he expected an additional hearing to occur in the fall on whether or not jurors would be allowed to hear statements that Seabra allegedly made to police after his arrest.
Touger contests that the statements should be inadmissible because Seabra had not "knowingly and intelligently waived his constitutional rights" to decline to speak to the officers.
He also noted that while a Portuguese interpreter was present during the interview, the individual may not have spoken the same dialect as Seabra.
"I'm very confident about winning that hearing," Touger said.
