Judge to allow Oxford school shooter's journal, texts as evidence in James Crumbley trial
A judge delivered multiple blows to James Crumbley as he prepares to go to trial next week over his alleged role in the Oxford High School mass shooting carried out by his son.
In back-to-back rulings, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews this week denied Crumbley's request to exclude his son's journal and text messages from trial. The journal and texts contain allegations by the shooter that his parents ignored his mental health struggles.
James Crumbley, facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter linked to the four classmates his son murdered on Nov. 30, 2021, has denied the claims, but can't challenge them at trial because his son has refused to testify. His wife last month was convicted of identical charges, making her the first parent in America to be held criminally accountable for a child's school shooting.
Matthews, however, noted that she had previously ruled that the texts and journal are admissible, concluding they are relevant to the case and don't violate the hearsay rule.
Matthews also denied Crumbley's request to let jurors see certain confidential medical information about his son. Specifically, the defense says in court records that it discovered notes by a psychiatrist in December that contain an alleged admission by the shooter that he lied to his friend when he texted that his parents ignored his pleas for help with his mental health struggles.
Only one student witness will be allowed to testify
But Matthews said in her ruling that she has reviewed the confidential records and concluded that they don't contain evidence that can help the father. So the jury will not see it.
In a partial win for the prosecution, Matthews also partly denied Crumbley's request that two Oxford students who witnessed his son's rampage not be allowed to testify.
Crumbley's lawyer Mariell Lehman has long argued that what happened inside the school that day is not relevant to Crumbley's case. Rather, she argues, Crumbley's case is about parenting decisions and actions he took before the shooting.
Allowing the students to testify about the horrors in the hallway would only serve to inflame the jurors' passions, Lehman argued.
In the end, Matthews agreed to let one student testify, and ruled that they could not testify about any emotional impact from the shooting — only what they saw.
The background of the case
Jury selection is to begin Tuesday in the father's trial. In his wife's case, jury selection took two days. Jurors reached their verdict after seven days of testimony and a day and a half of deliberation.
Jennifer Crumbley is to be sentenced April 9 and faces up to 15 years in prison.
Their child, Ethan Crumbley, pleaded guilty to murder and other charges related to his rampage, in which seven people were injured in addition to the deaths of Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbalda@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Judge to allow Oxford shooter's journal, texts in James Crumbley trial
