The court decides Michigan school shooter's parents are not obligated to assist their son in his appeal process.
Ethan, who gunned down four of his classmates and hurt six others and a teacher at Michigan's Oxford High School in 2021 while being 15 years old, has asked for the confidential pre-sentence reports used during his parents' trials. He believes that his family and home environment are significant factors in his appeal. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, each got 10 to 15 years in prison this year due to their manslaughter convictions.
To support his request, Ethan's lawyers claimed that the sentencing court should consider his family background, including his home environment as he was a minor at the time of the offences. The prosecution didn't precisely agree or disagree with this. However, they noted that the parents' pre-sentence reports were created months after Ethan's sentencing.
Alona Sharon, an attorney for Ethan's father, responded by stating that Ethan is "able bodied" and "capable of informing his counsel about his childhood, his parents and his home environment." His mother's attorney also claimed that the documents were "privileged and confidential" and she had "not waived her statutory privilege allowing the disclosure of her pre-sentence report."
Ashley Williams, a team member of Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews, confirmed the denial of Ethan's request for the pre-sentence reports. In a move this month, Ethan's attorneys argued that since he was a minor at the time, the court should consider his family background during his appeal process.
The Crumbleys are the first parents to be charged for a mass school shooting perpetrated by their child. Ethan pleaded guilty to terrorism causing death, four counts of murder, and 19 other related charges last year. The couple's trial focused on their responsibility of allowing their teenager to have access to a gun, with no prior warnings given of his deteriorating mental health.
Neither Ethan nor his parents' lawyers responded to CNN's request for comment.
Ethan admitted to taking a gun from an unsecured container in his house and shooting his classmates. He was convicted of killing Madisyn Baldwin, Justin Shilling, Hana St Juliana, and Tate Myre. In the parents' trials, the prosecution used testimonies from shooting survivors, police investigators, and school staff to demonstrate that James and Jennifer Crumbley were negligent in safeguarding their son's access to the gun and dismissing concerns of his declining mental health.
Included in the prosecution's sentencing memos, the Crumbleys' pre-sentence investigation reports depicted them defending their actions. James Crumbley wrote, "I am wrongly accused, and now wrongly convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter. My actions were those of any other parent." He also maintained, "I had no knowledge of what (my son) was going to do, or presented with ANY warning signs." While Jennifer Crumbley attempted to rectify her prior testimony, acknowledging she'd act differently now with the available information, but adding, "I never imagined he would harm so many people in the way that he did."
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Despite Ethan's lawyers arguing that the court should consider his family background during his appeal process due to his minor age at the time of the offenses, the court upholds its decision, stating that they are not obligated to assist US in this regard.
Furthermore, the denial of Ethan's request for his parents' pre-sentence reports reiterates the court's stance, maintaining that these documents remain privileged and confidential as per the statutory privilege rules.
Source: edition.cnn.com
