The man who shot and killed five people in the Capital Gazette newsroom will still be sentenced for his crimes on Sept. 28, a judge ruled, denying a request from Jarrod Ramos to expedite the process.

       During a hearing in Anne Arundel Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon, Judge Michael Wachs said Ramos wrote him a letter on Aug. 1 expressing a desire to be “sentenced as soon as possible” and a concern that his attorneys were no longer representing him adequately.

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       Ramos stormed the Annapolis newsroom in June 2018, fatally shooting Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John Mc-Namara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters. Part of his meticulously planned attack was barring the exits so that those inside could not escape.

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       Six people survived, and testified last month during his sanity trial. Ramos pleaded guilty to the murders, but his attorneys argued that he was not criminally responsible for the attack because he had numerous mental disorders that prevented him from understanding the criminality of his behavior or conforming it to the law.

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       But after three weeks of testimony, the jury found Ramos was criminally responsible — a verdict that is likely to send him to prison for life rather than a maximum-security psychiatric hospital.

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       Wachs, the prosecutor’s office and the defense attorneys agreed to a sentencing date of Sept. 28.

       Ramos, however, said in his letter last week that Sept. 28 was not soon enough. He did not say in the letter why he wanted to expedite his sentencing, but he did offer to waive his right to appeal and said he would accept the maximum sentence. He even offered to proceed with the sentencing without his attorneys if their court availability was holding up the process.

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       Ramos told the judge his attorneys offered an “unusual defense” that he “nevertheless deemed to be both fair and worthwhile.”

       “I’m satisfied with the trial I received,” he wrote. “.？.？. I accept the result. My only concern now is being sentenced as soon as possible.”

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       Ramos also wrote in his letter that he believed his attorneys were not relaying all his wishes to the state’s attorney’s office and threatened to fire them.

       “It is no one’s place but mine to decide what weight I assign which interest,” Ramos wrote, “and there is no question I am competent to do so.”

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       Ramos, who had been aggressively litigious for years leading up to the mass shooting, said he does not “wish to litigate anything more.” Prosecutors say he was fixated on the Capital Gazette and his defamation fight against them after the paper in 2011 published a column about his guilty plea in a harassment case.

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       In court Wednesday, the judge said he called the hearing so Ramos’s concerns could be heard. But when given the chance to speak, Ramos said that he had resolved his disputes with his attorneys and that his only outstanding request was moving the sentencing date.

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       Ramos’s attorneys, Katy O’Donnell and Elizabeth Palan, also asked the judge to eliminate the presentencing investigative report, which synthesizes key case information for the judge before they make their decision.

       That report, including mental health and family information, is given to the judge alongside any victim impact statements submitted by the state’s attorney’s office.

       The defense team argued everything that would be included in that report was information the judge already had from the trial.

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       But Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess, who tried the case, objected and said the presentencing investigative report was essential to complete Ramos’s criminal file.

       The judge agreed.

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       Leitess also argued against moving up the sentencing date because some of the “many” people impacted by the attack — including survivors and family members of the victims — had already booked travel for Sept. 28 or could not make earlier dates.

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       “I hate to say this so bluntly,” Leitess said, “but why are we moving the case up for the defendant’s convenience?”

       She said to do so would acquiesce to a defendant who wants to “get on with his life” at the “extreme detriment of family members and survivors.”

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       The judge agreed with that, too.

       Wachs asked the state’s attorney’s office to let him know by late August how many people planned to give verbal victim impact statements at the sentencing on Sept. 28, which is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. The defense said it may consider asking the judge to limit the number of people allowed to testify during the hearing.

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       Defense experts say Capital Gazette shooter was driven by mental disorders. Prosecutors say he was out for revenge.

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