Man pleads not criminally responsible in Maryland shooting

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Court records show that the West Virginia man charged in a shooting at western Maryland machine shop that killed three coworkers has pleaded not criminally responsible for mental reasons. Joe Louis Esquivel is charged with murder, attempted murder and other offenses in the June 9 shooting at Columbia Machine in Smithsburg and an ensuing shootout with police. The Herald-Mail reports that in a recent filing, Esquivel asserted that at the time of the shootings he lacked the capacity to either “appreciate the criminality of the alleged conduct” or “conform that conduct to the requirements of law” due to a “mental disorder or mental retardation.” A judge accepted the plea and approved Hutchison’s request for bifurcated trials.