Judge says no again to Ethan Crumbley, denies three more requests
The blows keep coming for school shooter Ethan Crumbley, whose lawyers keep making requests of the judge who will sentence him.
The judge keeps saying no.
The latest setback came Thursday, with Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe denying Crumbley's latest request to prohibit blurred images of his victims' bodies from being shown at an upcoming hearing involving his potential punishment. The defense team also asked that security footage of the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School not be shown in court, nor a video of Crumbley torturing a bird.
The defense has argued that images of the victims, the security footage and bird-torturing video are irrelevant, overly prejudicial and inflammatory, and maintain the prosecution is trying to "shock the court." If the judge, however, is intent on seeing this evidence, the defense suggested he view it privately in his chambers.
The question is life without parole or potential freedom one day
But Rowe is letting the crime scene footage and images of the victims in as he will be the one evaluating the evidence at the so-called Miller hearing — a special proceeding during which the judge will determine whether a life without parole sentence is appropriate for Crumbley.
"The court notes the sensitive nature of the crime scene footage and photos and its impact it may have on victims and/or their family. The court is not insensitive to this impact," Rowe writes in his opinion. "However, the court has not been provided any legal authority to suggest that this evidence, which this court has never seen before, should be reviewed (privately) and not in open court."
As for the video of Crumbley torturing the bird, the judge noted he has already seen that before. So if prosecutors want to introduce it at the Miller hearing, he will view it privately.
Crumbley, who pleaded guilty to murdering four classmates and injuring seven other people, is trying to avoid life without parole, with his lawyers maintaining he should have a shot at redemption one day.
But the prosecution wants him to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the lives he took, and the trauma he caused an entire community that is still struggling to recover.
More: Ethan Crumbley's former neighbor opens up: He ‘didn’t have a prayer as a child’
Crumbley's defense team has tried to get the life-without-parole condition dismissed. But the judge this week denied that request and kept it on the table. The judge also is allowing school eyewitnesses to testify at the Miller hearing, which Crumbley's lawyers also opposed.
Factors to consider in Crumbley's sentence
Because of his age — 15 at the time of the shooting in November 2021 — Crumbley is entitled to a Miller hearing to determine whether that punishment is warranted. The hearing is scheduled for July 27 and is expected to run two days, possibly three.
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.
Crumbley's lawyer also plans to cite those factors in arguing for a lighter punishment for her client.
"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."
More: Prosecution: We have more dirt on the Crumbleys. It's time to try this case.
At his plea hearing, Crumbley, now 16, admitted that he carried out his massacre with a gun that his parents had bought him as an early Christmas present. The parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are facing involuntary manslaughter charges — the first parents in America charged in a mass school shooting.
They have denied wrongdoing, maintaining they had no way of knowing their son would carry out a mass shooting, and that their son is solely responsible for the deaths, not them.
Their effort to block the charges against them is pending before the Michigan Supreme Court.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Judge says no again to Ethan Crumbley, denies three more requests
