OXFORD, Mich. – James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford High School shooter, is back in court Friday as his pursuit of a new trial continues.
You can watch the proceedings live in the stream posted above. The hearing is expected to begin around 9 a.m. Friday.
Crumbley and his wife were each convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter after their teenage son killed four students and injured seven others during a Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at the school.
Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Justin Shilling, 17; were the students killed in the attack.
Both Crumbley parents were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison, and they have both since requested new trials.
James Crumbley is in court Friday for a motion hearing in front of Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews. He asked for a new trial at the end of February, citing proffer agreements between two school employees and prosecutors, as well as claims that the court failed to determine if the shooter correctly asserted his Fifth Amendment right.
Appellate attorney Alona Sharon claims there were discovery violations by prosecutors because they didn’t give Crumbley’s attorney copies of the proffer agreements they made with Nick Ejak, the former dean of students at Oxford High School, and Shawn Hopkins, a former Oxford High School counselor.
Ejak and Hopkins testified during both trials about a meeting at the school the day of the shooting. The shooter and his parents met with them that day to discuss some behavior that troubled the counselors.
During their testimony, Ejak and Hopkins asserted that they were surprised that the Crumbleys didn’t take their son home and instead allowed him to go back to class.
Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Shada filed a response to Crumbley’s request for a new trial, saying the proffer agreements allowed the prosecution to meet with Ejak and Hopkins to evaluate them as possible witnesses, with the promise that they would give truthful information.
Shada said Ejak and Hopkins knew about the potential criminal liability, and the proffer agreements were created after a request from their attorneys. These kinds of agreements also don’t require testimony.
Sharon also raised a question about the shooter’s decision not to testify at either of his parents’ trials. She questioned whether the Fifth Amendment was invoked correctly, claiming her client’s trial attorney, Mariell Lehman, could have filed a motion to address that issue.
Prosecutors said that doesn’t mean Lehman provided ineffective defense.
“The jury determined that defendant was grossly negligent and that his gross negligence was a cause of the four deaths in the Oxford High School shooting,” Shada said in a motion filed on April 4, 2025. ”He received a fair trial, and none of defendant’s arguments are sufficient to undermine the unanimous jury verdict."
Matthews heard Jennifer Crumbley’s arguments for a new trial on Jan. 31, 2025. She has not announced a decision on that motion.
