Opening arguments begin in James Crumbley manslaughter trial
March 7 (UPI) -- Opening statements in the involuntary manslaughter trial of James Crumbley, the father of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, got underway Thursday.
During prosecutor Marc Keast's opening statement he told the jury that a father can be held responsible for the intentional acts of his teen-age son, while the defense countered that Crumbley didn't know what his son was planning.
James Crumbley is charged with four counts related to his son's murder of four students at Michigan's Oxford High School Nov. 30, 2021.
"There is no claim that James Crumbley gave his son that firearm knowing he would murder four students," Keast said. "It takes gross negligence, it takes causation of death and it takes the other person's actions reasonably foreseeable -- those are the three elements that must be proven."
Keast stressed that Crumbley isn't charged with knowing what would happen, but for failing to act when he was presented his son's drawing that depicted a gun, a human body bleeding and the words "The thoughts won't stop. Help me," which he introduced to the court.
Defense counsel Mariell Leham told the jury they would not hear evidence that James Crumbley "probably even suspected that his son was a danger."
"What the prosecution wants you to believe, the part that's not true, is that James Crumbley knew what his son was going to do and knew he had a duty to protect other people from his son," Leham said.
She added that James Crumbley didn't know Ethan had access to the gun he used and that he didn't take any steps to protect others because he was not aware of any imminent danger.
The judge denied a request by the prosecution to submit text messages from Ethan Crumbley to his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, as evidence.
The messages were allowed into evidence in Jennifer Crumbley's trial, but James Crumbley's defense objected so this jury won't see them.
A jury of nine women and six men with three alternates was seated Wednesday. The all-White jurors include a nurse, a music teacher, an IT worker, a graphics worker and a foster care mom.
During the jury selection process they were asked about gun ownership, mental illness and the responsibilities of parenting.
One juror was eliminated almost immediately when he expressed an opinion that the Crumbley being charged was a "travesty of injustice." Nineteen jurors were weeded out before the final jury was selected.
Crumbley faces manslaughter charges in the deaths of Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling,17; and Tate Myre, 16.
Ethan Crumbley was 15 when he killed the students using a gun gifted to him by his parents. He is serving a life sentence for the four murders.
His mother Jennifer Crumbley has an April 9 sentencing date after being found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
This is the first known case of parents being charged for a child's shooting.
Some of Ethan Crumbley's journal and text messages were admitted into evidence Wednesday over the objections of James Crumbley's defense attorney. The evidence will be used by prosecutors to show Crumbley had ignored alleged attempts by his son to get help before the murders.