Defense in Capital Gazette shooting case asks to split trial into two

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Attorneys representing the man charged with five counts of murder in the Capital Gazette shooting have asked the presiding judge to split the trial into two.

The man accused of fatally shooting Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters and John McNamara previously entered a plea of not guilty and not criminally responsible - Maryland's version of the insanity plea.

In a motion filed Thursday, the team of public defenders for Jarrod Ramos, 39, of Laurel - who also faces one count of attempted murder and six counts of first-degree assault - asked that the presiding judge order the trial be bifurcated: one to determine guilt, another to determine criminal responsibility. The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 4.

The judge or jury - whichever the defendant chooses - would first reach a conclusion on whether he is guilty of the charges.

If the defendant is found guilty, there would be a second proceeding in which each side presents mental health experts who would testify whether they believe the defendant is criminally responsible. A judge or jury would ultimately decide.

Maryland law says to find a defendant not criminally responsible, it must be proven that at the time they committed the crime they, because of a mental disorder or disability, could not understand their actions were illegal or conform their actions to the law.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Laura Ripken is obligated to grant a motion for bifurcation by either party unless she "finds and states on the record a compelling reason to deny the motion," the law details.

A spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office declined to comment. The public defender's office did not respond to request for comment.

According to statistics prepared by the Maryland Judiciary, over the last five years in Anne Arundel County, 29 defendants pleaded not criminally responsible. Defendants were found not criminally responsible in 16 - or about 55 percent - of the cases, the data shows.

Soon after Ramos entered a plea of not criminally responsible, Ripken in May ordered him evaluated for competency and criminal responsibility at the state's maximum security mental hospital.

It's unclear based on online records if Ramos remains at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center or has been returned to the county jail, where he was being held without bail. State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess has previously said it's unlikely such an evaluation would be completed in less than the allowed 60-90 days.

Once the evaluation is completed, forensic psychiatrists with the Department of Health will complete a report and return it to Ripken's chambers. The report will say whether, in the health department doctor's opinion, the defendant is competent to stand trial and whether they are criminally responsible.

Maryland law says to find a defendant not criminally responsible, it must be proven that at the time they committed the crime they could not understand their actions were illegal or conform their actions to the law because of a mental disorder or mental disability.

Once Ripken has the report, she will distribute it to the prosecutors and defense attorneys both of whom can choose to hire the services of additional mental health experts.

William Davis, who leads the team of public defenders representing Ramos, has been open in court hearings and filings that the defense has hired its own expert. Davis has repeatedly called Ramos' behavior "bizarre" and "convoluted" up to a decade before the attack.

In a May 31 filing, prosecutors notified the defense of their intention to call a doctor as a witness. Leitess declined to comment about why her office was calling a doctor.

Requesting the trial be split into two is a strategic step, legal experts have previously told the Capital.

If there's little doubt the defendant is guilty, there's no point to bifurcate, said Antoini Jones, a private defense attorney in Prince George's County.

Prosecutors usually want one trial, unless the health department report calls into question the defendant's guilt, said Jon Cox, deputy state's attorney for Baltimore County.

Peter O'Neill, a private defense attorney based in Glen Burnie, said the trial should always be split in two because guilt and criminal responsibility are separate issues. Mushing them together in one trial, he said, could get messy.

The second part of a bifurcated trial - that dealing with criminal responsibility - can become a battle of mental health experts, where each side attempts to challenge the credentials of the opposing side's expert.

A health department report examining all criminal cases in Maryland in 2006 showed that of the 285,000 circuit and district courts statewide that year, only in 368 cases were the defendants evaluated for criminal responsibility.

Less than one-third of the 368 met the criteria of not criminally responsible, according to the report from Mental Hygiene Administration.