Accused Capital Gazette Shooter Pleads Not Guilty To All Counts
Roughly one month after five people were shot to death in the offices of a Maryland newspaper, court proceedings began Monday against the man accused of the crime.
Lawyers for Jarrod Ramos entered a plea of not guilty to all 23 felony charges he faces, including five counts of first-degree murder, Reuters reported.
Ramos is charged with going on a June 28 shooting rampage at the offices of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis. He did not appear in court, and has been held in jail without bail.
Police said at the time of the attack that Ramos had a longstanding grudge against the newspaper.
The Capital Gazette shooter suspect has pleaded not guilty. Jarrod Ramos faces 5 charges of first-degree murder for the newsroom shooting in Maryland. pic.twitter.com/RF6ekYAW3W
— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 30, 2018
Public defenders William M. Davis and Elizabeth W. Palan are representing Ramos. Davis did not reply when asked to comment on the case, The Baltimore Sun reported.
In court, Davis claimed that “any in-court identification at the trial of the defendant will be tainted as a result of impermissible suggestive identification procedures undertaken by police authorities and/or will be the result of an illegal arrest or search,” the New York Post reported.
Ramos was identified using facial recognition technology.
Emily Morse, a spokeswoman for the prosecution, called the objection “fairly standard.”
Davis also demanded prosecutors turn over “the chemist, analyst, technician, or other person who analyzed any substance alleged by the prosecution to be a controlled dangerous substance, including any substance used as a standard of comparison.”
He also said he wants “any Breathalyzer operator or blood technician or analyst” who obtained any samples.
Jarrod Ramos, the alleged Capital Gazette shooter, has entered a not guilty plea, according to recent court filings. The Anne Arundel state's attorney has also filed a request to seal residences and phone numbers for civilian witnesses who might be called to testify at trial.
— Jessica Anderson (@janders5) July 30, 2018
One prosecutor said the hearing was one step in the process that will bring Ramos to trial.
“Normally, in an initial appearance a judge will advise the defendant of his right to counsel, of each and every one of the charges, and the maximum penalty faced,” said Wes Adams, Anne Arundel County state’s attorney, according to WTOP-FM in Washington.
Davis’ appearance “eliminates the need for the judge to have that hearing, because now counsel’s responsibility is to advise his client of each of the charges, and each of the maximum penalties,” he said.
Ramos, 38, had become embroiled in a dispute with the newspaper over its reporting of a 2011 case in which he pleaded guilty to harassment. He sued for defamation in 2012 and lost.
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