CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school bus driver accused of kidnapping and holding three women captive for years pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to hundreds of criminal charges, but his lawyers said they are seeking a plea agreement to avert a trial. 
 
 Ariel Castro, 52, is shown in this Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office booking photo taken on May 9, 2013. Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters 
 
 A grand jury on Friday added 648 charges to a previous indictment against Ariel Castro, bringing the total number of charges against him to 977. 
 
 Castro, 53, is accused of abducting the first of the women in 2002 and holding them captive until they escaped from his house on May 6 along with a 6-year-old girl he fathered with one of the women. 
 
 During a brief court appearance, a lawyer for Castro entered the not guilty plea and the judge kept in place an $8 million bond, and an order that Castro have no contact with the three women and the child. 
 
 Law enforcement officials have said that the women, Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 32, and Amanda Berry, 27, were kept bound in chains or rope for periods of time and that they endured starvation, beatings and repeated sexual assaults. 
 
 The most serious of the charges against Castro, two counts of aggravated murder under a fetal homicide law over allegations he forced Knight to miscarry, could potentially carry a death sentence if prosecutors choose to pursue it. 
 
 Joe Frolik, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, told reporters a committee that considers death penalty charges is still deliberating and prosecutors have reserved the right to bring a third indictment that includes a death penalty charge. 
 
 According to the indictment, Knight was pregnant at least three times from September 2002 to December 2003. Castro’s aggravated murder charge stems from allegations that he forced her to miscarry in a fourth pregnancy from 2006 to 2007. 
 
 But legal experts have said that it would be difficult to prove murder without physical evidence of the miscarriage. 
 
 Castro has not sought to delay the start of his trial, which is scheduled for August 5, but defense attorneys again said on Wednesday they are seeking a plea agreement in the case. 
 
 “We are preparing for that trial however with the goal in mind to try to resolve this for the fairness of the women as well as the community so everyone can put this behind them,” Castro’s attorney, Craig Weintraub, told reporters. 
 
 “Either we are going to have a plea or we are going to have a trial on August 5,” he said. 
 
 Ian Friedman, a Cleveland lawyer who defended a teenager who opened fire at an Ohio school last year killing three people, said he would be shocked if the Castro trial begins as early as August 5 because of the complexity and number of charges. 
 
 “Ariel Castro will never leave prison to the taste of freedom. This case is only about whether he receives life (in prison) or death,” Friedman said. 
 
 Castro is charged with kidnapping the three women from 2002 to 2004 and brutalizing them over the next 10 years. He is also charged with kidnapping the 6-year-old girl and three counts of endangering her. 
 
 In Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday, Castro’s lawyers waived a reading of the full indictment, which also includes 512 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, six counts of felony assault, and one count of possessing tools such as a Ruger handgun used to aid in the crimes. 
 
 Judge Pamela Barker summarized the charges against Castro. When she asked if he understood the charges, Castro replied, “yes.” Barker several times told Castro, who was wearing orange prison clothes, to raise his head and to open his eyes. 
 
 DNA evidence has confirmed that Castro was the father of the girl, who was born to Berry. At a court appearance in early July, Castro asked to be allowed jail visits from his daughter. A judge rejected the request immediately as “not appropriate.” ||||| CLEVELAND, Ohio — Suspected kidnapper and murderer Ariel Castro was indicted again today on hundreds of new criminal charges, but without Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty calling for the death penalty. 
 
 The 977-count indictment (read the full text of the charges in the document viewer below) adds charges for crimes that prosecutors contend Castro committed against Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight toward the end of a decade-long imprisonment in Castro's Seymour Avenue home. 
 
 A previous 329-count indictment only extended from August 2002, the year prosecutors claim Knight was abducted, until February 2007. 
 
 Prosecutors have accused Castro, 52, of kidnapping the women and raping them repeatedly in his home, where he sometimes kept them chained and rarely allowed them to leave the house. 
 
 The new indictment includes 512 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, six counts of felonious assault, three counts of child endangerment and one count of possessing criminal tools. 
 
 It also includes two counts of aggravated murder, which were among those charges carried over from the previous indictment, stemming from claims that Castro beat and tortured one of the women into miscarrying a child. 
 
 "Today's indictment moves us closer to resolution of this gruesome case," McGinty stated in a written release. "Our investigation continues, as does our preparation for trial." 
 
 Under Ohio law, McGinty can seek the death penalty for aggravated murder if it is coupled with a kidnapping charge. In 1996, the Ohio legislature passed a law that allows for an aggravated murder charge in cases where a pregnancy is unlawfully terminated. 
 
 A capital review committee within McGinty's office met Thursday to discuss whether to pursue the death penalty against Castro. While such a specification is not included in today's indictment, prosecutors could seek to add it later, McGinty spokesman Joe Frolik said. 
 
 Castro's attorneys Craig Weintraub and Jaye Schlachet issued a written statement expressing pleasure "that we were able to convince the prosecutor's office to not seek and obtain the death penalty in this new indictment." 
 
 They stated further, "It is our hope that we can continue to work toward a resolution of this matter so that the women do not have to endure additional trauma." 
 
 Weintraub elaborated during a phone interview that he and Schlachet submitted mitigating material to the capital review committee that, among other things, raised concerns about subjecting the three women to a trial and disclosing "the private nature of what occurred." 
 
 Weintraub has said some of the charges against Castro cannot be refuted and that if the death penalty is not sought, a plea deal could be worked out. 
 
 The prosecutor's office stated today that the capital review committee has not completed its evaluation. 
 
 Death penalty experts believe McGinty would have a difficult time convincing a jury to sentence Castro to death for various reasons, including the ongoing debate over when life begins and whether killing a fetus is tantamount to murder. 
 
 They also believe proving aggravated murder may be difficult without sufficient physical evidence to support testimony from the women. 
 
 Another obstacle for McGinty could be the willingness of the three women to take the stand and expose themselves to potentially harsh cross-examination by Castro's defense lawyers, who are duty bound to represent their client to the fullest extent. 
 
 "Do these young women want to testify? Can they testify," Case Western Reserve University senior law instructor Michael Benza asked rhetorically during a recent interview. 
 
 Included in the evidence collected by the FBI is a diary that was kept by one of the women. 
 
 Rob Glickman, a former judge and assistant prosecutor in Cuyahoga County, said McGinty and his advisers likely made their decision not to seek the death penalty based on the strength of the facts in the case and the willingness of the victims to go to trial. 
 
 "I'm sure they made that decision in consultation with the victims," he said. 
 
 Glickman said that given the extent of the charges against Castro, McGinty should have no problem convincing a judge to give Castro enough consecutive sentences for his crimes to keep him in prison for the rest of his life. 
 
 A judge could also impose life without parole if prosecutors are able to prove aggravated murder, said Steve Dever, a former assistant county prosecutor under three previous administrations. 
 
 Dever said it's not overkill to charge Castro with so many counts because it's McGinty's obligation to give the court a full accounting of what happened. 
 
 "This is a crime that spanned over a considerable period of time," he said. 
 
 As for the multiple kidnapping counts, Dever said, a prosecutor can make such a charge in connection with an individual criminal act, such as a rape, that required the restraint of one's liberty to carry out. 
 
 Barry, DeJesus and Knight emerged from a decade of captivity on May 4 after Berry, with the help of neighbors, escaped with her 6-year-old daughter through the front door of Castro's home while he was away. 
 
 Police responded to find DeJesus and Knight also in the house. All three had gone missing in the same area of west Cleveland about a decade ago and were largely presumed dead. 
 
 Their seemingly miraculous rescue captivated the world, and national media outlets are still angling for what they hope is the first interview with the traumatized women. 
 
 The women recently released a short youtube video during which they thanked supporters and conveyed an image of recovery. 
 
 A fund set up on behalf of the women has received more than $1 million from 9,200 donors, with some of the money already being provided to the women and their families. 
 
 Bruce Hennes, a spokesman for the women, declined to comment on today's news. 
 
 Castro, who is being held in Cuyahoga County Jail, has appeared in court for pre-trial hearings, always with shackles on his wrists and ankles and with his head bowed. 
 
 Judge Michael Russo recently ruled that Casto was competent to stand trial, based on a court-ordered evaluation and a stipulation by Castro's attorneys. 
 
 Knight was 21 when she went missing in August of 2002. Berry was 16 when she disappeared in April 2003, while DeJesus was 14 when she failed to arrive home from Wilbur Wright school in April 2004. 
 
 The trial is still scheduled to begin Aug. 5.
– Accused kidnapper Ariel Castro has had 648 new counts added to his indictment, bringing the grand total to 977. To break it down, the entire indictment is 576 pages, and includes: 512 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, six counts of felonious assault, three counts of child endangerment, two counts of aggravated murder (he is accused of unlawfully terminating the pregnancy of one of his captives), and one count of possessing criminal tools, the AP reports. The reason for all the new charges is that his previous indictment only covered the first four-and-a-half years that the three women were allegedly imprisoned in his house. The new indictment covers the entire period, reports CNN. Despite the added heft to the charges, prosecutors are still not seeking the death penalty—though the aggravated murder charges plus the kidnapping charges would allow them to under Ohio law, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. A spokesperson for the County Prosecutor says they still may. But by not seeking the death penalty, a plea deal could be worked out, which would spare the three women the emotional turmoil of going through a trial.