BALTIMORE _ Jarrod Ramos, the Laurel, Md., man accused of blasting his way into the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis last month and killing five staff members, waived his first appearance in Anne Arundel Circuit Court on Monday.
Ramos, 38, has been indicted on five counts of first-degree murder and other violations.
Anne Arundel public defender William Davis entered his appearance as Ramos' attorney Monday, eliminating the need to hold the arraignment.
Initial appearances tend to be perfunctory meetings in which judges advise defendants of the charges against them and their rights to an attorney. Often, an attorney will enter an appearance, notifying the court that he or she will represent the defendant.
Now, instead of the judge, Ramos' attorney will be responsible for discussing with Ramos the charges and the maximum penalty of each.
Anne Arundel Judge William C. Mulford II attempted to hold the hearing after the filings were made, shortly before the hearing was scheduled to begin.
But Ramos was not brought to the courthouse and was not taken to the video center, so the case was removed from the docket, Adams said.
Numerous journalists packed into the third-floor courtroom for the hearing. Several Capital Gazette staffers attended the hearing to observe but not report. Adams spoke briefly to reporters Phil Davis and Rachael Pacella outside the courtroom.
The next step in the case is for the assigned judge, Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Laura S. Kiessling, to hold a scheduling conference with the parties to set motions and court dates. The scheduling hearing is expected to happen by the end of August.
Ramos is accused in the shooting 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 and tried to escape through a back door.
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. Ramos 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.
Kiessling is expected to set a trial date, schedule other matters and preside over the trial itself.
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 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 allegedly told the woman she was the only person who ever said hello to him or was nice to him in school.
Ramos then allegedly called her vulgar names and told her to kill herself, Hartley wrote. Ramos allegedly emailed the bank where she worked to get her fired.
Ramos pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge and was sentenced to probation. A judge called his behavior "rather bizarre," the column said.
Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the Capital Gazette. It was rejected by a lower court, and again on appeal.
Ramos continued to taunt Capital Gazette reporters and editors on Twitter.
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