Lawyer: Newspaper Gunman Insane, Not Criminally Responsible; Md. Capital Gazette News Case

Last edited Tue Jun 29, 2021, 11:08 PM - Edit history (1)

U.S. News/AP News, June 29, 2021. - Ed.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The man who killed 5 people at a Maryland newspaper was delusional and believed the state's judicial system was conspiring with the Capital Gazette to persecute him and ruin his life, his attorney told a jury Tuesday, trying to make the case that Jarrod Ramos is not criminally responsible for the crimes due to mental illness.

Hours after hearing that, jurors saw photographs of the dead from shotgun blasts in their own newsroom. They saw Wendi Winters collapsed in a hallway after she had just charged at Ramos with a trash can. They saw Gerald Fischman crumpled under his desk. They saw Rob Hiaasen dead in his cubicle. They also saw John McNamara dead at the back of the newsroom. Rebecca Smith died later at a hospital.

They also saw an officer's body camera video, showing Ramos emerging from under a desk in the newsroom and police officers later leading him out. Three years and a day after the attack on the newspaper, the 2nd phase of a trial started for Ramos, who pleaded guilty- but not criminally responsible- to the June 28, 2018 slayings. The plea is Maryland's version of an insanity defense.

Katy O'Donnell told jurors her client "is guilty of having committed these offenses, and his act was willful, deliberate and premeditated.” But, she said, mental health experts for the defense will tell them he is not criminally responsible under the law due to mental illness. “Mr. Ramos is guilty, and he is also not criminally responsible,” she said. Ramos believed that he was being intentionally persecuted after the newspaper wrote about a case in which he pleaded guilty to harassing a former high school classmate...

Read More,
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-06-29/opening-statements-set-for-newspaper-shooting-insanity-phase