Ramos pleads not guilty in Capital Gazette shooting – By Jessica Anderson and Danielle Ohl (baltimoresun.com) / July 30 2018
Ramos’ initial appearance was removed after counsel entered his appearance by paper filing, eliminating the need to hold the hearing.
A Laurel man accused of blasting his way into the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis and killing five staff members entered a not-guilty plea in court papers filed Monday ahead of his scheduled arraignment, which was then canceled.
Jarrod Ramos, 38, has been indicted on five counts of first-degree murder and other violations. Anne Arundel public defenders William M. Davis and Elizabeth W. Palan entered their appearance as Ramos’ attorneys Monday, eliminating the need to hold the arraignment. Initial appearances tend to be perfunctory meetings in which attorneys enter their appearance and defendants are advised of their rights and the charges against them.
Davis did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Numerous journalists packed into the third-floor courtroom for the scheduled hearing, along with several Capital Gazette staffers who were there to observe but not report on the proceedings. Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams, who will prosecute the case with Aaron Meyers and Jason Knight, spoke briefly to Capital reporters Phil Davis and Rachael Pacella outside the courtroom. Davis and Pacella were among those in the newsroom at the time prosecutors say Ramos fatally shot the five staffers.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Laura S. Kiessling, who was assigned to preside over the case, is to hold a scheduling conference with the parties by the end of August.
Defense attorney A. Dwight Pettit, who is not involved in the case, said the fact that Ramos has entered a not-guilty plea is a mere procedural step in a criminal case.
“You don’t concede anything until you see the state’s case,” Pettit said.
The step allows the defense to file discovery motions to request any evidence, and allows the defense to find potential holes in the state’s case that can be argued at trial. It also leaves open the possibility that a defendant can plead not criminally responsible or for the defendant to claim they are mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Brian G. Thompson, another defense attorney not involved with the case, said all attorneys will enter a not-guilty plea at this stage.
“It would be malpractice not to enter a not-guilty plea,” he said.
Attorneys must do due diligence to evaluate how a client is charged or how the case is prosecuted “that you could exploit on behalf of your client,” he said.
Ramos is charged in the deaths of Rob Hiaasen, 59, an assistant editor and columnist for the Capital Gazette; Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent who headed special publications; Gerald Fischman, 61, the editorial page editor; John McNamara, 56, a longtime sports writer; and Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant.
Two other staff members, Pacella and Janel Cooley, were injured in the attack.
The Capital Gazette is owned by the Baltimore Sun Media Group.
The attack began at 2:33 p.m. June 28 in the newspaper’s office at 888 Bestgate Road.
Police said Ramos used a shotgun to blast his way through a glass door and into the newsroom. They say he moved through the office, shooting five employees. Others hid under their desks or tried to escape through a back door, which Ramos is accused of barricading before the shooting.
Officers called to the scene found Ramos hiding under a desk and took him into custody, police said in charging documents.
District Judge Thomas Pryal last month ordered Ramos held without bail. He remains at Anne Arundel County’s Jennifer Road detention center.
At Ramos’ bail hearing, Davis argued against holding the hearing and asked for a gag order. The judge denied both motions.
Ramos nurtured a long-running grievance with the newspaper, stemming from a 2011 column about his conviction for harassment. The harassment case centered on an online relationship Ramos allegedly tried to kindle with a former high school classmate. In the column, then-Capital Gazette staff member Eric Hartley wrote that Ramos sent a friend request on Facebook to the woman, and the experience turned into a “yearlong nightmare.”
Ramos pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge and was sentenced to probation. A judge called his behavior “rather bizarre,” the column said.
Ramos then filed a defamation lawsuit against the Capital Gazette. It was rejected by a lower court, and again on appeal.
