James Crumbley Trial: Days 1-3 Recap | LAWYER EXPLAINS
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 27. 04. 2024
- In this video, we're recapping the first three days of trial in MI v. James Crumbley.
Live stream going over Opening Statements in detail: czcams.com/users/livewVkOY-yT-mo?...
FOR CONTEXT:
James Crumbley is the father of Ethan Crumbley, also known as the Oxford School Shooter. Ethan was sentenced to life without parole in December 2023. Then in February, Ethan's mother, and James' wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent her son's shooting. Now, James is on trial for the same charges as Jennifer. James' jury was seated on March 6th, and trial began with opening statements on March 7th.
TIME STAMPS
0:00 Introduction
1:13 A Unique Case
2:36 DAY 1
3:00 Opening Statements Generally
4:26 State's Opening Statement
6:41 Defense's Opening Statement
7:47 Elements of Involuntary Manslaughter
8:51 # 1. Molly Darnell (Oxford HS Teacher)
12:01 # 2. Edward Wagrowski (Forensic Analyst)
18:14 Defendant's Alleged Threats
19:19 DAY 2
19:22 # 2. Edward Wagrowski, Cont.
23:02 # 3. Robert Koteleis (Crime Scene Supervisor)
23:34 # 4. Cammy Back (Gun Store Employee)
25:29 # 5. Det. Joe Brian (Special Investigations Unit)
29:17 # 6. Kristy Gibson-Marshall (Oxford HS Asst. Principal)
30:06 DAY 3
30:12 # 7. Shawn Hopkins (Oxford HS Guidance Counselor)
38:55 # 8. Nicholas Ejak (Oxford HS Dean of Students)
43:58 # 9. Special Agent Brett Brandon (Case Investigator, ATF)
49:16 What Do YOU Think?
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#JamesCrumbley #EthanCrumbley #OxfordSchoolShooting
What are your thoughts on this case so far? Are you leaning guilty or not guilty (or too soon to say) on involuntary manslaughter?
I think itâs guilty. Too many bad parents have gotten away with the âno parent is perfectâ or âI did the best I couldâ excuse. Itâs a smokescreen.
As a pup parent, I love the sight of a totally relaxed pooch in the background!
I was just looking up DoorDash employee requirements because of a comment someone left and learned DoorDash or are allowed to bring their kids with them while they deliver. Itâs one of the perks.
I can't communicate to you how much of a difference it makes watching you stream court proceedings and pausing to explain things, versus watching raw feeds from court tv. I know it's long days and I'm sure you're busy, but I can't get enough of your live court streams!!
I think James was flagrantly neglectful of gun safety in the house with a minor.
It appears the parents neglected his mental health.
This combination lead to the deaths.
I think James is guilty.
Gun safety in a house with minors is crucial.
Thankful for the recap as I don't have time to watch the whole trial!
I only watched the mom's. Didn't have time for this one, so this was nice
Two things that really stood out to me: 1.) Everyone in Ethan's home seemed to be living in their own bubble. Not even Jennifer and James were communicating well with one another, passing info about Ethan between one another, nor checking in with him in any meaningful way. 2.) Based on all of the evidence presented in court-- including the lifestyle choices the parents were making (*coughs* Jennifer) and their lack of involvement with his health and mental health-- had the guidance counselor had a chance to call DCFS, I have no doubt they'd have had plenty of evidence/grounds to remove Ethan from the home. People in the comments are saying that its not the teacher's/counselors jobs to ask if there is firearm access in the home, BUT, every single time I bring any of my children to their Pediatricians office -- I'm asked this. They ALWAYS ask. I only go in every few weeks for my newborn and once a year for my other children, mind you. It should be a routine question of the child's safety. If the Doctors are asking, then if a child is acting with red flags in their school, where they are every day, of course they should ask. James didn't have the gun and ammo secured, period. I think he was more sympathetic than Jennifer, but he was still negligent.
Good summary. One thing I don't think I really agree with though is that it was a mistake or failing of the school to not ask questions such as what access Ethan had to firearms. I just don't see it as the school's responsibility to be some investigative body. It would have certainly been great in this case if they'd asked and it all turned out better, but I don't fault them for not. At some point a line has to be drawn as to what exactly a school's job is and investigating potential for future crimes really doesn't fit in my mind. That just seems like asking too much from teachers, admin staff and guidance councillors.
Great recap! You keep a solid pace. Havenât been able to make it live, so I appreciate it. Thank you!
The recap I was looking for!
Thank you for the re-cap. I couldn't get myself to watch this so far
Gosh, this is so much work - appreciate the informative recap! I hope you're okay watching this trial by yourself, Alyte... take care of yourself â€
Thank you so much for all the effort you put into your recaps. I heavily rely on them, since I cannot watch the entire trial myself. Furthermore as a non native speaker your recaps make it much easier to understand and follow the case. Greetings from Germany
Great recap! I was on vacation and didnât have time to watch highlights as the trial happened.
Nice one!
Would be great to similar update on the Karen Reid case once it gets going
Great legal break down! Thank you Legal Bytes
Very good recap, Alita! I heard that the verdict might have come in today and I wanted to watch this first for a better understanding of what's happened in the trial so far. Work prevents me from being able to watch the lives, so the recaps are really something I look forward to. Thank you!
Apparently the jurors went back in court cuz they wanted to go home for the day. They deliberated for about 2 hours so far, and will continue deliberations today.
Came out today !
The pup in the background at the end of the video is so adorable! Full on relaxation mode!
Also, thank you for the recap as I've been curious how it's going.
Do you think that because EC's mom was already convicted, it could influence this jury's decision (even if it's not supposed to)
Could you do a recap of the Rust trial? I'm very interested but don't have the time to watch the live comentary. Love your content.
Thank you for this recap! I love long form videos, and this was a very succinct, organized summary. I have one question. I know this a different case, different defendant, and different jury, but if the wife was found guilty, how can he not be?
That school teacher is a f'ing trooper! Mortally wounded and not wanting to divert emergency resources unnecessarily. Stupid, but brave.
thanks for the excellent recap
What was their justification in buying their (mentally disturbed) teen son guns tho?
That one is definitely not a hunting gun, so what does a teenager need a gun for?
Theyâre from an area that loves guns. They already own guns before buying a new gun for the shooter. I believe his parents have the idea that shooting is a hobby and it was bonding time for them, and possibly a way to destress? Who knows. They didnât mention the reasons, Iâm only speculating. I also read another comment on another channel that apparently their school starts Wednesdays a bit later because Wednesday morning is shooting time? No idea if itâs true but I was shocked to learn that. Guess their gun culture there is much stronger than other states.
I don't think the Wednesday thing is true but ya that part of Metro Detroit has a lot more gun enthusiasts there.
I don't really see a problem with it TBH if they had properly secured it or at least knew that their soon was in good mental health, but neither of those things were true. Having range day can be a great bonding event. The real issue was these two parents were to incompetent or lazy to practice appropriate forearm safety or understand their kids mental health.
Watching this trial but love hearing your thoughts in a recap.
Thanks
That was really well done.
Thanks for your recap! Your voice is so calming and you explain things so clearly and eloquently. Looking forward to the remaining recaps. IMO the parents are guilty in this specific case.
Super helpful breakdown, thanks!
Thank you for sharing this =] Are you going to recap the full trial as we go on :)
I've watched the trial, and it's a night and day comparison between the two parents' trials. It has been a strange thing, and I'm not sure how to feel about it yet. The jury today left for the day with no versict and are expected to return in the morning.
Yeap. The defense lawyer in this trial is much better than his wifeâs. The defense certainly swayed me a few times. And the fact that jury deliberated for 2hrs but decided to go home for the day makes me think that they didnât have a unanimous guilty verdict or high ratio of guilty verdict, hence they decided to come back the next day with fresh minds to deliberate further.
TY
I have put myself in this situation and Itâs really sad that I am so conflicted . One side is for me I would never ever buy a gun for any of my kids a gun(one of my sons did ask me when he was around 15-16,)
I believe they both ignored their child ,as for mom she had horses&a boyfriend. The dad I believe was depressed and had his own issues
I donât think they should go to jail theyâre not a risk to the public definitely non violent. They should however get time served and probation. This could end up a slippery slope for parents. My kids are all adults but if the justice system begins to hold parents accountable itâs pretty scary. When kids become teens their all messed up due to hormones and NEVER tell their parents anything,
I get where this case went and the kid did a horrible thing . RIP Hanna Justin Tate and â€â€â€â€
I think this sets an important precedent. It's dangerous for the public when parents don't listen to their childrens cry's for help at all. People died because they didn't care at all about their son and provided him a gun essentially!
From the insomnia, voice hearing, mental episodes, destructive drawings, depression, texts about it to his parents, loss of his only close friend and so forth. There were so many clear signs that Ethan had deep troubles. Anyone living with him would notice that.
Then on top of that they were also very bad gun owners who bought their kid a gun, showed him how to use it and then didn't properly lock it in any way that is legally required! They didn't check if the gun was missing in the school meeting after the kid drew it in class. Heck they didn't even tell the school about the identical gun they had at home, wow. đ
Itâs not easy to lay charges on parents. They even had a separate court case to confirm if charging the parents here is appropriate. I think because the parents in this case were clearly negligent (ignored kidâs pleas, bought gun and left gun and ammo unsecured), and because their negligence caused death, they were able to charge the parents. If parents didnât know of the problems, or are actively trying to help their kids or even show them love, Iâm sure parents wonât be charged if their kids commit crimes. Itâs case by case basis.
This will be interesting. I think parents should be making sure their weapons are not accessible.
From a European point of view there are three levels of guilt here - the child, the parents and the society. All three had to be irresponsible for the crime to occur. This crime would be very unlikely in the UK even if the parents and child had been exactly as they are. It's possible Ethan may have stabbed one person, but perhaps not even then because that would require a different mindset. It's likely in the UK that he would have got through his troubled mental health and grown out of it with no harm to others. It's very interesting to me that the parents are the proxy for society here.
No reason not to ask the parents to search the backpack. Drawing of gun + scary words + teen boy = locker and backpack search. How is that not enough to search?? Itâs my hope after the parents go down that the school and its administrators are held liable.
In a community where most people have firearms and where plenty of kids were known to use firearms, you can be reasonably suspicious that a kid may have a firearm in his backpack if he's caught looking at bullets on his phone and drawing firearms on a maths paper. At the very least you can ask the student to empty his bag and if he refuses you get the parents to force him to do it or take him out of school.
I struggle a lot with the argument that he couldn't possibly take his child home from school because he was too busy working and providing for his family- firstly he could surely have taken Ethan in the car, but he also appears to have plenty of time to look after and worry about horses (which are notoriously expensive, maybe sell the horses if you can't miss a few hours of work to look after your child who seems to be going through an acute mental health crisis!!)
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What a lonely life for a kid. To suffer from mental health issues and it being ignored by your parents đą
Omg they cant give that "I just love my son so much" defense after FLEEING the state (consciousness of guilt much?) and "I couldn't take my son in that day because i was working" is so paltry a defense it doesnt even bear repeating. Just couldn't be bothered, willful neglect
I was shocked he didnât take a plea after Jenniferâs trial, considering on the stand she placed the responsibility for the gunâs security at Jamesâ feet. That being said, I think his defense counsel is more competent than hers was.
So đ€·đŒââïž weâll see if it has a different outcome. Doubt heâll take the stand tho considering how poorly that went for Jennifer
If social services knew about Ethan , his parents will be in jail anyway. They left his son alone since he was six years old.
They have to wear school uniforms at my kids schools. No cargo pants with large pockets and have to have mesh backpacks. I like this.
What they're not saying is this kid was living two lives like Ted Bundy. He was a good kid in front of the parents and in school. Nobody thought he would harm anyone. He was also into frightening the parents and his parents him with scary jokes. His parents didn't neglect him or abuse him. He was dropped to school by the father everyday and they went on holidays together, they visited family members and their relatives visited them too. He wasn't mentally ill from the way he talked on his trial. He was born with this evil mind and he couldn't hold back anymore. Even if James and his wife didn't have guns, he'd have found a way to hurt others for pleasure and to fulfill his plan to go to jail.
What about the principal? He shouldnât have the same charges after all heâs the one thatâs supposed to keep the student safe
Trying to say you need to keep all your guns under lock and key or be liable is ridiculous. I received my first gun @ 10 and had access to the gun cabinet. I spent my teenage years shooting hunting and general tomfoolery in the mountains. I donât think in this case the parents should go to jail. The teacher felt safe enough to let him stay.
But did special agent Brandon flag the judge with the gun?
They have a verdict.
I would like to know where the principal is why hasnât charges been on him see if the child was suicidal why didnât you check his bag? Maybe he wanted to hang himself slit his wrist that part didnât matter. I think the principles more at fault than the mother the father shouldâve had the gun locked up. I agree, but neither should be charged for murder unless the principal is in there
Guilty.
I watched all of these witnesses. And I truly feel like the dad was unaware of what could happen.
Fingers crossed at least one juror sees things the same way
Yea I donât think any parent would believe their kid will shoot others. But fact is, he shouldâve secured the guns at home, because he knew of his sonâs troubled thoughts and his friend leaving which impacted his son a lot, his son couldâve used the gun on himself, even if he didnât shoot others. Shouldâve secured the guns to prevent this tragedy.
It honestly hurts me that Ethan got life without parole when he was so young, when he was clearly so completely wronged by so many adults in his life. I feel like he could recover and reform and be able to return to a proper existence.
5:03 pretty sure the cable lock comes with the gun free. He didnât have to buy it. Mine came with one free. There is also a piece of paper that says you can get a free cable lock from the police or fire department. Forget which.
*edit wrote this before you mentioned they sold him a cable. Which is odd, I thought all guns come with one free.
I think the point was that it wasnât on the gun. That would have been a last line of defense if the kid knew how to get in the safe.
HE IS GUILY!!!!!
What is âGUILYâ?
Isnt that the guy from Street Fighter?