Insanity trial in Maryland newspaper shooting delayed

Dispute over witnesses postpones case in rampage that killed 5

The trial to determine whether Capital Gazette shooter Jarrod Ramos was legally insane at the time of the attack that left five dead was postponed Wednesday, the day jury selection in the case was set to begin.

A new trial date has not been set.

Ramos, 39, had admitted earlier this week that he carried out the 2018 mass shooting at the offices of the newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, making way for a jury trial that would decide whether he was so mentally ill at the time that he should not be held legally responsible.

Before the first group of jurors who had been called into Anne Arundel County Circuit Court could be questioned Wednesday, prosecutors and Ramos’s defense team spent the morning arguing over mental health experts set to be witnesses at trial.

Katy C. O’Donnell, one of Ramos’ three public defenders, argued that prosecutors violated discovery rules by disclosing late in the proceedings several appraisals from mental health professionals that prosecutors hired. O’Donnell said prosecutors filed five notices on Tuesday, the eve of jury selection, with four of those notices coming in at 10:45 p.m.

“This late disclosure cannot stand,” O’Donnell said, asking Judge Laura S. Ripken to omit the testimony of the state’s mental health experts as part of the alleged discovery violation.

Assistant State’s Attorney James Tuomey called the defense assertion “the most offensive allegation” he’s heard in his time practicing law. Tuomey and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said the defense put itself in a bind by waiting until the last minute to provide prosecutors with information about experts testifying on Ramos’ behalf. Prosecutors argued they have been working around the clock to respond to defense court filings within appropriate deadlines and the delay tactics feed into Ramos’ desire to turn the court proceedings into a “farce.”

“He wanted this to be a circus,” Tuomey said, citing a mental evaluation the state health department conducted of Ramos.

Ripken ruled in favor of prosecutors, denying the defense’s request to bar certain materials from prosecutors’ mental