Ethan Crumbley is trying to spare himself life without parole

Convicted school shooter Ethan Crumbley is on a mission to get out of prison one day, if his lawyer's recent court filings are any indication.

The teenage gunman who pleaded guilty to murdering four students and injuring six students and a teacher considers himself redeemable, the filings show, and wants a chance at freedom one day.

So his lawyers have crafted a wish list for the judge, asking for the following:

• Crumbley wants the life-without-parole condition to be dismissed before he is sentenced for the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School.

• He wants to prohibit the eyewitnesses of the shooting — 12 students and two school staff members— from testifying at his upcoming hearing, during which a judge will determine whether life without parole is appropriate for him. The defense argues the eyewitness testimony is irrelevant and overly prejudicial for the so-called Miller hearing.

• Crumbley wants to keep the details and circumstances of the school shooting out of the hearing, with his lawyers arguing: "The facts of the crimes themselves, no matter how horrific, do not satisfy any of the Miller factors or justify a sentence of life without parole."

• He wants to wear street clothes to the hearing, not jail garb.

In a Wednesday court filing, Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe stated he will soon issue an order on Crumbley's requests.

The prosecution, meanwhile, isn't having any of it.

Prosecutor pushes life without parole

In back-to-back court filings this month, Oakland County prosecutors urged the judge to deny all of Crumbley's requests and let the life-without-parole motion proceed. They also challenged the defense's claims that the judge may not consider "facts or details" of the mass killing at the Miller hearing, arguing:

"The facts of the crime are relevant to determine the proper sentence," Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast wrote in a July 7 filing, stressing "it would be contrary" to established case law "for this court to ignore evidence regarding the very event for which (Crumbley) is being sentenced — the homicides themselves."

More: Prosecution: We have more dirt on the Crumbleys. It's time to try this case.

The prosecutor also argued the eyewitnesses to the school shooting should have a right to speak at the Miller hearing, maintaining their testimony "is relevant" in a hearing where "the ultimate issue is whether a sentence of life without parole is disproportionate."

"Defendant's request to completely exclude witnesses without first hearing what they have to say is premature," Keast argues in his filing, adding that "each and every witness called by the prosecution will provide testimony that will assist this court in engaging in a proportionality analysis and evaluating the Miller factors."

Crumbley was 15 when he carried out the shooting. His defense team maintains that victim impact testimony is not relevant to the key issue in the Miller hearing: "Whether Ethan Crumbley is 'the rare juvenile offender who exhibits such irretrievable depravity that rehabilitation is impossible and life without parole is justified.'"

Crumbley 'does not have a right to wear street clothes'

The prosecutor also scoffed at Crumbley's request to wear regular clothing at the Miller hearing, writing: "The defendant does not have a right to wear street clothes."

The prosecution conceded that while criminal defendants often do wear street clothes during jury trials so jail clothing doesn't undercut the presumption of innocence, the Miller hearing is in front of a judge, not a jury, "and no such prejudicial effect can be shown."

Crumbley's lawyer, however, maintains her client deserves the same dignity afforded other people in the courtroom, noting: "Every other person in the Miller hearing ... will be in street clothing."

"The Miller hearing in this matter will be the closest proceeding to a trial that Ethan Crumbley will have and will be conducted in a national spotlight," defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin argues in court documents. She added that while the judge is "unlikely to be influenced as a juror would be" by Crumbley's jail clothing, "given the importance of this hearing, Ethan Crumbley should be afforded the respect and dignity of appearing in street (clothes)."

Crumbley's Miller hearing is scheduled for July 27 before Rowe.

Judge to weigh several factors

The U.S. Supreme Court and Michigan Supreme Court have held that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles are unconstitutional and require the so-called Miller hearing, during which a judge will consider several factors in reaching a decision, including:

• Crumbley's background and mental and emotional development.

• His home life, family environment and character.

• His record while incarcerated.

• The circumstances of the crime, including the extent to which Crumbley was involved and how his family or peer pressure may have played a part.

'Mr. Crumbley is worthy of an out date'

Loftin, Crumbley's attorney, plans to cite those factors in arguing for a lighter punishment for her client at the Miller hearing.

"The Miller hearing will give the court, as well as the public, a good inside look into the difficult home life of Mr. Crumbley and what challenges he was facing," Loftin has previously stated to the Free Press. "I believe that the hearing will show that Mr. Crumbley is worthy of an out date, and that there is potential for rehabilitation inside the Michigan Department of Corrections."

If the prosecution has its way, however, Crumbley will die behind bars for what he did on Nov. 30, 2021 — the day he emerged from a school bathroom and started blasting gunfire in the hallways — just as he had planned in his journal where he wrote: "The first victim has to be pretty girl … I will kill everyone I ... see."

'Life without parole is appropriate'

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office sought a life sentence with no chance of parole for Crumbley last November, three weeks after he pleaded guilty to 24 counts, admitting that he shot up his school using a gun his parents bought for him as an early Christmas gift, and that he intended to cause panic and fear — just as he penned in his journal.

"I will cause the biggest school shooting in Michigan's history. I have fully mentally lost it," Crumbley wrote in a journal found in his backpack on the morning of the shooting.

More: Crumbleys appeal to Michigan Supreme Court: Blame our son for Oxford shooting, not us

Crumbley took responsibility for the murders of his classmates, Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17, and the injuries he caused to seven others struck by his bullets.

"Life without the possibility of parole is appropriate in this case," the prosecution has argued in court documents.

His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are charged with involuntary manslaughter for — prosecutors allege — ignoring a son with mental health issues and buying him a gun instead of getting him medical help. The parents have long maintained their son is responsible for the students' deaths, not them, and that they had no way of knowing their son would commit a school shooting. Their case, the first in the nation in which prosecutors seek to hold parents responsible in a school shooting, is pending before the Michigan Supreme Court.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley doesn't want life without parole