To be fair, putting a suicide risk in protective custody is a reasonable middle ground between not prosecuting suicidal individuals and, as was done in this case, leaving them to fend for themselves.
So your response to someone who is presumed innocent and afraid of prison is to put them in jail? Perhaps we understand "presumed innocent" differently, because that does not seem very fair to me.
More likely he was suggesting a mental health facility where Swartz could receive a psychological/psychiatric evaluation and, if appropriate, treatment.
I find your interpretation very unlikely. Especially considering that Heymann likely does not have authority to send Swartz to such a facility, but does have a convenient jail available.
I doubt that lawyers are falsely in the habit of claiming that their clients are suicide risks. But even if so, if it comes up very often then a reasonable procedure to handle it can still be worked out. Jail time for a person who is not a flight risk and is still presumed innocent does not, in my books, qualify as a reasonable procedure.
