ANNAPOLIS, Md. _ Anne Arundel County Judge Laura Ripken has set a new date for the trial to determine whether the Capital Gazette shooter was sane at the time of the mass shooting, according to the Maryland Judiciary.
Slated to begin March 4, the trial to determine whether the Laurel man convicted of murdering Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters will serve his time in state prison or be committed to a psychiatric hospital is expected to last 13 days, said Nadine Maeser, spokeswoman for the judiciary.
The new trial date comes after attorneys for Jarrod Ramos asked for a postponement on Oct. 30 as they were to begin selecting a jury to decide their client's fate.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Wachs granted Ramos a delay, agreeing that his attorneys needed time to review recently disclosed records, two days after the 39-year-old pleaded guilty to the 23 charges he faced, including five counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, six counts of first-degree assault and 11 counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
