Capital Gazette Shooting Trial Delayed For Mental Health Opinions

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Michael Wachs postponed the Capital Gazette shooting trial Wednesday after the defense asked for more time to review information provided by the prosecution’s mental health expert witnesses.

Attorneys for Jarrod Ramos said that the state’s attorney’s decision to file five new state psychiatric and psychological opinions at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday was in violation of the rule on what evidence prosecutors are required to disclose to the defense. Ramos has pleaded guilty to shooting journalists Wendi Winters, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara and Gerald Fischman, and advertising assistant Rebecca Smith, but now a jury must determine if he was criminally responsible for the crimes.

Prosecutors argued they had a right to refute Ramos attorneys' expert opinions, which they received Oct. 4, the deadline for turning them over.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Laura Ripken ruled earlier in the day that, despite Ramos' attorneys' arguments, the state’s attorney’s office was not in violation of evidence discovery rules.

The rulings came on the morning of the scheduled start of the selection of the jury that will determine if Ramos is criminally responsible for the crime. He pleaded guilty Monday to all 23 charges against him, including five counts of murder.

Marci Mustachio, jury commissioner for the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, told Capital News Service “the jurors were smiling when they left” a courtroom upon learning of the postponement. About 50 people of the prospective 300-member pool were in a neighboring courtroom Wednesday.

“The jury pool summoned for this case has completed their service and (has) been released,” Nadine Maeser, spokeswoman for the Maryland Judiciary, said in a statement. She added she cannot provide other details until a new trial date is determined.

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Prosecutors had filed five reports from four expert witnesses — psychologists and psychiatrists working for the state health department and hired by the prosecution — about Ramos' mental health.

Public Defender Katy O’Donnell argued Wednesday morning the prosecution’s disclosures late Tuesday night were essentially a discovery violation. The defense said their team needed more time to review the opinions of the four expert witnesses that the state had submitted.

But Assistant State's Attorney James Tuomey said that the defense’s decision to disclose its own witnesses on Oct. 4 — about 30 days before the trial was scheduled to begin — was a “tactical” and “knowing” decision.

Prosecutors said their review of defense reports and data and the timing of their response — on the eve of jury selection — was within the bounds of discovery rules.

“We have been ready to argue on behalf of the victims in this case,” Tuomey said.

Former Capital Gazette employees declined to comment on the delay and referred calls to a corporate representative.

“We respect the judicial process and remain focused on supporting our staff and the (victims’ families),” Renee Mutchnik, spokeswoman for Baltimore Sun Media, which owns The Capital, said in a statement.

Ripken agreed with Tuomey’s argument that she was “surprised” when she learned in early October that the defense had yet to disclose its expert witnesses, and she “did not agree” with the defense’s conclusion that the prosecution’s experts were “new names.”

“I find simply that the state is doing its due diligence,” Ripken said.

Ramos’ lead public defender, William Davis, said in court that the postponement was requested in order to have sufficient time to review a yet-to-be-submitted report from one of the state’s witnesses, a psychiatrist.

Davis told Wachs — who is in charge of postponement scheduling at the court — that if Ripken’s earlier ruling “had gone the other way,” the defense “would not be here asking for this postponement.”

Wachs said Maryland’s standard discovery evidence rules don’t fit the needs of this case, saying the defense attorneys and their experts are entitled to adequate time to review the state’s newly introduced expert disclosure documents.

Davis acknowledged the delay would be disruptive to the court officers and to the victims in the case. Wednesday’s proceedings follow months of motions hearings leading up to Ramos’ trial.

After he pleaded guilty to all counts on Monday, the trial was supposed to move immediately to the criminal responsibility phase — determining whether he was conscious of his actions, or committed the crimes on June 28 of last year during a mental health emergency — after jury selection.

The Capital Gazette became the object of Ramos’ rage in 2011 after it published a column detailing his guilty plea to harassment charges in a case against him by a former high school classmate.

The newspaper published the column about the conviction in July 2011. This prompted Ramos to take the newspaper to court, where he represented himself in a defamation lawsuit that was eventually dismissed.

The paper and its staff members, among others, became frequent targets on a Twitter account in Ramos’ name, until it appeared to go dark in January 2016. The account tweeted again from inside of the newsroom on the afternoon of the shooting.

Wachs recommended that the attorneys convene with witnesses and Ripken as soon as possible to discuss rescheduling.

“I think it’s in everyone’s interest to get a resolution,” he said.

Attorneys are expecting to know the new trial date by the end of the week. It is expected that the delay will take weeks, if not months.

By Hannah Gaskill and Elliott Davis, Capital News Service