Judge delivers blow to Ethan Crumbley, sides with his parents on appeal issue

In a what-goes-around-comes-around moment, a judge denied Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley's request to access his parents' confidential pre-sentencing reports — much like when he refused to let his mom and dad use his medical records to help them in their historic trials and subsequent prosecution.

In a three-page ruling Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews sided with lawyers for James and Jennifer Crumbley, concluding the shooter has no right to his parents' confidential pre-sentencing reports, which contain personal details about their lives. The teenager's appellate lawyers wanted to use the reports to potentially reduce Ethan Crumbley's life-without-parole sentence, maintaining his childhood and family life had not been thoroughly investigated before his sentence was handed down in December.

The parents' presentencing reports, the appellate lawyers argued, contain information that is "relevant and necessary" to the shooter's appeal, and "might mitigate his sentence."

Those reports include, among other things, information about the parents' drinking habits, psychological issues, prior brushes with the law and family life.

Lawyers for both James and Jennifer Crumbley argue in court documents that if the shooter's new legal team wants more information about his childhood, then the shooter is capable of providing that information himself.

The judge agreed.

"For the reasons stated by counsel for the (parents), the (shooter's) motion is denied," Matthews wrote.

The ruling comes months after a similar scenario played out in Matthews' courtroom, where the shooter's mom and dad made history as the first parents in America to be held criminally responsible for a school shooting committed by their child. During their trials, James and Jennifer Crumbley had hoped to use their son's medical records to defend themselves against claims that they ignored his mental health issues and bought him a gun instead of getting him help.

But Ethan Crumbley refused to waive privilege over his medical records and refused to testify at his parents' trials, which ended with both parents being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of four students murdered by their son: Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 17, and Hana St. Juliana, 14. Six other students and one teacher were wounded.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were both sentenced to 10-15 years in prison. They are both appealing, maintaining they never saw any signs that their son was mentally ill; that they had no idea of his plan to shoot up his school; and that the gun at issue was not to be used freely by their son, but was hidden in a bedroom armoire, unloaded, with the bullets stored in another location.

Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 when he carried out his rampage on Nov. 30, 2021, pleaded guilty last year to all his crimes, admitting he wanted to terrorize the school community and witness the suffering of his victims and their families. At his sentencing, he said his parents were not to blame, and asked the judge to give the victims the justice they asked for.

He is now appealing his sentence, with his new legal defense team arguing his family and home environment may not have been properly investigated, or considered, when the punishment was handed down.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Judge rules in favor of Crumbleys on appeal issue