'He is also not criminally responsible': Trial against Capital Gazette gunman begins

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By Brian Brant

(ANNAPOLIS, Md.) The trial against the gunman accused of killing five people inside the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland began Tuesday almost three years to the day the massacre unfolded, according to NPR.

"The mass shooting on June 28, 2018 was the deadliest attack on a newsroom in modern U.S. history."

Jarrod Ramos pleaded guilty in 2019 to all 23 counts against him, but the 41-year-old's attorneys argue that he's not criminally liable because of his mental illness.

The trial began after consistent delays due to COVID-19, replacements inside public defender's and state's attorney's offices and multiple court hearings.

Ramos attorney's said the gunman believed Maryland's judicial system was conspiring with the newspaper to persecute him and ruin his life, per The Associated Press.

“Mr. Ramos is guilty, and he is also not criminally responsible,” his attorney Katy O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said Ramos began to believe the newspaper was after him after writing a story about a case in which he pleaded guilty to harassing a former high school classmate and that the courts were unfairly rejecting his 2012 defamation case against the Gazette.

She also added that the defendant will describe what precipitated the events leading to the deadly massacre as well as “an eight-year backstory” he claims also provoked the attack.

“We want you to understand the years leading up to this day,” O’Donnell said. “It’s chilling because Mr. Ramos does not believe what he did was wrong.” 

The defense will detail his mental health issues and have mental health experts and witnesses describe Ramos's illness.

If Ramos is convicted, prosecutors would seek life in prison without parole rather than a maximum-security psychiatric hospital if found not criminally liable. 

On Monday, a memorial dedicated to the five Gazette employees was unveiled in downtown Annapolis.

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