Three years after journalists were gunned down inside the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, a jury will be seated this week to hear the trial of the man responsible.
Jarrod Ramos, 41, admitted he killed five journalists inside the newsroom, pleading guilty to all 23 counts he faced back in October 2019. This week, attorneys will select the jurors who will decide whether Ramos was sane during the crime.
The jurors will begin the selection process Wednesday, and the trial will begin once they are seated.
Judge Michael Wachs said he planned to summon 300 jurors for selection in what is expected to be a three-week trial. Part of the pretrial hearings determined both jurors and witnesses, and Ramos himself, will wear clear face shields rather than masks, so expression and emotion are not lost in the proceedings.
If Ramos is found to be not criminally responsible, he’ll be committed to a psychiatric hospital, rather than a prison cell.
