DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Wednesday denied requests for new trials by the parents of a Michigan school shooter, despite finding that prosecutors had committed a violation by failing to disclose agreements with two important witnesses.
Setting aside the involuntary manslaughter convictions of James and Jennifer Crumbley and starting over would be too severe, Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews said.
“The court would effectively be ignoring the impact of dozens of hours of testimony, postulating a basis for the jury verdict, dismissing a plethora of other evidence suggesting guilt, and impermissibly speculating about what ‘might have happened,’ ” Matthews said.
The Crumbleys are serving 10-year prison sentences. They didn’t know their son had planned to commit a mass shooting at Oxford High School in 2021. But they were accused of failing to lock a gun at home and ignoring Ethan Crumbley’s mental health needs. Four students were killed.
The parents didn’t take Ethan home on the day of the shooting when they were confronted with his macabre drawing of a gun, blood and dark messages.
School administrator Nick Ejak and counselor Shawn Hopkins testified about that meeting. But unknown to jurors and defense lawyers: The men earlier had given interviews to investigators with the promise that their words would not be used against them. They were never charged.
Lawyers for the Crumbleys argued that producing those agreements was a fundamental obligation of prosecutors. They said trial attorneys would have further tried to cast doubt on the credibility of Ejak and Hopkins during cross-examination.
“The lack of disclosure … is in itself disturbing,” the judge acknowledged.
Prosecutor Karen McDonald’s team had argued that the deals weren’t immunity agreements and didn’t need to be shared.
Jennifer Crumbley’s appellate lawyer said the fight will continue in higher courts.
“So the prosecution intentionally cheated and violated the court rules, but they didn’t cheat hard enough for the court to do anything about it,” Michael Dezsi said.
Ethan Crumbley is serving a life prison sentence.
