James Crumbley seeks change of venue after wife's conviction: I can't get fair trial here

In the wake of his wife's conviction, James Crumbley is seeking a change in venue as he faces trial next month on involuntary manslaughter charges stemming from the 2021 school shooting carried out by his son, arguing it's "impossible" to seat an unbiased jury from the nearly 1 million adults in Oakland County, given the widespread media coverage of his wife's trial.

Moreover, the "significant number of people involved and directly impacted by the Oxford High School shooting," will make jury selection "particularly difficult," his lawyer argues in a new filing.

"It is impossible to have jurors forget what they have heard and seen since Nov. 30, 2021, and even more so, as recently as Jennifer Crumbley's trial," defense attorney Mariell Lehman wrote in her latest filing. "In order to have a fair trial with impartial and unbiased jurors, a change of venue using jurors from a different county will be required."

Perhaps most worrisome, Lehman argues, is that her client has already been convicted in the court of public opinion due to the onslaught of media coverage of the parents' case, and prior comments by the prosecutor.

Prosecutor's assertions 'clearly not true,' motion says

“Mr. Crumbley wants, and is entitled to, a fair trial with impartial jurors who do not have personal connections to the school shooting or its victims, and jurors who have not been influenced by the inflammatory media. …. And particularly by interviews conducted with Prosecutor (Karen) McDonald that include completely inaccurate information that the public has accepted and repeated as facts of the case,” Lehman argued.

She added: “Most significantly and most problematic, is that the public has clearly adopted the narrative that the prosecution purported early on in this case — that the shooter was mentally ill and that James and Jennifer Crumbley were fleeing from justice — both of which are simply not true.”

James Crumbley is scheduled to go to trial on March 5 on involuntary manslaughter charges — one count for each of four students shot and killed by his son on Nov. 30, 2021, at Oxford High School. Ethan Crumbley, then 15, carried out his massacre using a gun that had been gifted to him by his parents. Days after the shooting, McDonald announced unprecedented charges against the parents, seeking to hold them responsible for the deaths of the four students murdered by their son: Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17.

Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to all charges against him and is serving life without parole.

Father's lawyer wants added opportunities to strike jurors

On Feb. 6, an Oakland County jury convicted Jennifer Crumbley on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, making her the first parent in America to be held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting carried out by their child.

Her trial generated international media attention, which has James Crumbley's lawyer concerned, so much so that she also has requested that Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews add more peremptory challenges during jury selection. These challenges allow lawyers to dismiss a potential juror for any reason. In Jennifer Crumbley's trial, each side was given five peremptory challenges, though Lehman argues she will need more than that to seat a jury for the dad, given that he goes on trial just one month after his wife's sensational trial.

“The number of people who have an interest in this particular case is alarming,” Lehman argued, noting on the day Jennifer Crumbley’s guilty verdict was reached, a local livestream on YouTube generated 152,000 views. Moreover, she noted: “Within hours and days, the foreperson of the jury gave media interviews in which she provided insight into jury deliberations and the reasons why (she) felt that Jennifer Crumbley was guilty.”

According to the jury foreperson, who, in addition to talking to local media, went on the "Today" show the day after the verdict, what "hammered it home" for the jury was that Jennifer Crumbley, who had gone to the shooting range with her son days before the massacre, was the last person seen with the murder weapon. She said the shooter's journal, in which he accused his parents of ignoring his mental health needs, leading him to shoot up the school, also impacted the jury.

'It is simply too devastating' for local jurors to be fair

All of this hurts James Crumbley, Lehman argues, stressing her client’s upcoming trial needs to be held in another county or jurors from elsewhere need to be brought in.

"To say that finding jurors who are not directly connected to a person involved in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting will be difficult is a significant understatement," Lehman argued, stressing that local jurors may feel an obligation to convict given what the victims' families and community have been through. "There is no way that prospective (local) jurors … can set aside their bias and feelings about this case. It is simply too devastating."

Jennifer Crumbley's lawyers also sought a change of venue, but were denied. In her filing, Lehman also blasted the county prosecutor over her media interviews in the days and weeks after the shooting, noting McDonald appeared on "Good Morning America," CNN, multiple local TV news stations and conducted radio interviews with NPR and "Mojo in the Morning."

"She put out inaccurate and untrue information which effectively destroyed Mr. Crumbley and his wife in the media. This has eliminated his chance of having a fair trial," Lehman wrote.

Among the prosecution narratives with which Lehman takes issue is that the Crumbleys were on the run after charges were announced. She maintains that's not true.

"When the shooting first unfolded, Mr. Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley were told by law enforcement that they should leave their home for their own safety. They were being notified of numerous threats to their safety and it was determined that they were no longer safe to remain in their home," Lehman wrote. "As a result, they left and stayed at other locations."

The parents have been jailed since their arrest on Dec. 3, 2021, at an art studio on the east side of Detroit. James Crumbley spends 23 hours a day in his jail cell.

Following complaints by the defense that the prosecution was unfairly trashing the Crumbleys in the media and disseminating false information, the judge issued a gag order in the case, prohibiting both sides from publicly discussing the case.

The prosecution has long argued that the Crumbleys ignored their son's obvious mental health issues, and bought him a gun instead of getting him help. It also argues that the parents, more than anyone else, could have prevented the shooting had they disclosed to the school that their son had access to a gun on the morning they were summoned to the counselor's office over a troubling drawing he had made. The teenager had drawn a picture of a gun, a human body bleeding, and written, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me."

School officials held that the boy seemed sad and depressed, but was not a threat to the school. They let him return to class, concluding it was better for him to be with peers than home alone. His parents left the meeting, vowed to get their son help within 48 hours and returned to their jobs.

Two hours later, their son fired the first shot.

The Crumbleys maintain they never thought their son was homicidal, a threat to anyone or would ever carry out a school shooting. Jennifer Crumbley maintained that the gun at issue was unloaded and safely stored in an armoire. The bullets were hidden in a separate drawer under some jeans. And a key for cable lock that goes on the gun was hidden in a beer stein, she said.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: James Crumbley seeks change of venue after wife's conviction