Capital Gazette killer gets trial postponement

The trial for the Capital Gazette killer was postponed at his attorneys’ request Wednesday afternoon, the same day they were to begin selecting a jury tasked with deciding whether the man was criminally responsible and will serve his time in prison or a mental institution.

Defense attorneys representing the man convicted of murdering Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters argued they did not have enough time to review information disclosed Tuesday night by prosecutors about the psychiatric experts they hired to rebut the gunman’s claim that he is insane.

Prosecutors said they disclosed the information as soon as they could, considering defense attorneys waited until the last day allowable under the law to provide their doctors’ opinions about 39-year-old Jarrod Ramos.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Wachs, who handles rescheduling matters, granted the defense’s request.

He said the defense was entitled time to thoroughly review the information and that a postponement was “requisite for having a full, fair trial.”

While neither side violated the rule for pretrial evidence sharing known as discovery, he said the rule “is simply not adequate for this case.”

A new trial date has not yet been scheduled, though Wachs urged both sets of attorneys to promptly communicate with their experts and witnesses so that court staff could reset the trial by the end of the day Friday.

The postponement came the same day attorneys were slated to begin selecting a jury for the trial to decide whether Ramos is legally insane.

After Wachs ruled, the 50 prospective jurors waiting all morning in an adjacent courtroom to be questioned during jury selection, filed out of the room and away from the courthouse. One sighed and said, “Phew.” Others mentioned lunch.

Public Defender William Davis said the defense would not have asked for a postponement had Circuit Court Judge Laura Ripken — who is presiding over the trial of the gunman convicted of murdering five newspaper staffers — ruled differently Wednesday morning at a pretrial motions hearing.

“We realize this request creates problems,” Davis said. “We respect the positions of the families … This is not something we’ve done lightly.”

Davis and the other defense attorneys representing Ramos accused prosecutors Monday morning of withholding the information about the opinions of Dr. Gregory Saathoff, a psychiatrist prosecutors hired to rebut Ramos’ claims that he was insane and not responsible for the mass shooting.

Ramos pleaded guilty Monday to all charges related to the mass shooting. Authorities say he came to the Annapolis newsroom armed with a pump-action shotgun and smoke grenades, blasting his way through the glass front doors and moving about the newsroom “hunting.” The Capital Gazette is owned by Baltimore Sun Media.

State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess urged Wachs not to postpone the trial, arguing that there was enough time for defense attorneys to review the latest disclosure for a Nov. 12 trial start date. A two-part trial was slated to begin Nov. 4 and Leitess said the court had planned for the trial to continue until Nov. 22. She said Saathoff could turn over some information Wednesday and complete his report about Ramos’ sanity by Nov. 4.

Wachs asked Davis if Ramos’ team of attorneys could be ready by Nov. 12.

“No, we don’t know what this report is going to say,” said Davis, noting that it would jeopardize their ability to effectively represent Ramos.

His attorneys said the disclosure from prosecutors revealed that they were withholding information. Ramos’ attorneys then asked Ripken to preclude the prosecutors’ mental health experts from testifying at trial and to limit the testimony of Maryland Health Department doctors.

“This is the most offensive allegation that I’ve heard since practicing (law),” said

Assistant State’s Attorney James Tuomey.

He noted the defense only recently disclosed the findings of their experts and said such late notice was meant to cause prosecutors to ask for a postponement.

“We have been ready to argue on behalf of the victims in the case. We are ready to argue on behalf of victims in this case,” said Tuomey, adding that prosecutors would not ask to postpone the trial for the convicted murderer.

Ripken denied the defense attorneys’ request, saying prosecutors had done their due diligence and were responding to what prosecutors described as strategically delayed disclosure of the defense experts’ findings in support of Ramos’ insanity plea.

Tuomey highlighted the numerous delays granted to the defense over more than a year of pretrial proceedings, as Ramos and his attorneys weighed entering an insanity plea. He pleaded not criminally responsible — Maryland’s version of insanity — in April.

Tuomey added that Health Department doctors, who evaluated Ramos and believed he was sane, made it “abundantly clear” in their report that Ramos delayed as long as possible for media attention and to create a “circus.”

After the defense attorneys’ request was denied, Public Defender Katy O’Donnell demanded Ripken order prosecutors to disclose additional information related to their experts. When Ripken did not respond how she wanted, O’Donnell took exception.

“Please don’t roll your eyes at me,” Ripken told O’Donnell.