Shooting Spree Suspect Found Competent For Trial
HOWELL (WWJ) - A Wixom man has been found competent to stand trial, charged in a shooting spree that targeted motorists on and around I-96 in four counties.
Raulie Casteel, 43, is charged with terrorism as well as assault with intent to murder -- both life felonies.
The competency exam was ordered for the terrorism case charged by Attorney General Schuette against Casteel in December.
"What this means now ... he can assist his attorney and he understands the charges against him," said WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton.
Casteel appeared Wednesday in 53rd District Court in Howell. He is again due in court on Thursday, this time in Oakland County, where he is facing similar charges.
Langton said Casteel will be found competent for trial in that set of cases, too, after the prosecutor and defense attorney agreed to consider the same report by an examiner at the state forensics center.
Langon said that just because Casteel was found competent to stand trial, it doesn't mean an insanity defense is out of the question. "He could still later on in the trial use the defense that he was insane or that he didn't know what he was doing," said Langton. "Now, whether or not a jury believe that, that remains another issue."
The shootings took place along a 100-mile I-96 corridor Oct. 16 through Oct. 18, then stopped until Oct. 27 when a man was shot in the backside while driving on I-96 near the Fowlerville exit. He was the only person struck by a bullet in this case.
No motive possible has been disclosed.
