ANNAPOLIS, Md. _ An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge on Monday ruled prosecutors provided enough evidence to justify charges in the Capital Gazette shooting case.
Judge Laura Ripken, in her opinion, found state prosecutors for Anne Arundel County had given the defense "significantly more" than is legally required in a bill of particulars, a document outlining the facts supporting an indictment.
Ripken is presiding over the Capital Gazette shooting case, in which a Laurel man faces 23 counts in the deaths of five people at the newspaper offices on June 28.
A gunman killed five people in the Capital Gazette newsroom: Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters and John McNamara. Six other staff members in the newsroom that afternoon survived the attack.
Jarrod Ramos, 39, of Laurel, was indicted on 23 charges in the attack, including murder, attempted murder and assault of other employees in the newsroom at the time. The trial is scheduled for June 3-14.
Ramos was present in court for Ripken's decision, alongside defense attorneys William Davis, Elizabeth Palan and Katy O'Donnell.
O'Donnell objected for the record, saying the defense did not have enough details to sufficiently support the state's understanding of the shooting.
Anne Arundel County's State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess appeared for the prosecution alongside assistant state's attorney James Tuomey.
The case will now proceed to trial, Colt Leitess said, though she declined to say whether the trial would actually get underway in June.
Ramos entered a plea of not guilty, but has requested time to consider a not criminally responsible by reason of insanity plea. The deadline to file that plea is March 15.
Davis declined to comment for the defense.
