(WXYZ) — The verdict is in and the gag order has been lifted in the historic trials of the parents of the shooter who terrorized his classmates and teachers inside Oxford High School.
Watch an extended version of the interview here:
Both Jennifer and James Crumbley were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent their son from killing four students and injuring 7 others, including a teacher.
The attorney for James Crumbley is speaking publicly for the first time since his conviction in a one-on-one interview with 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
“What is your message to the community and the victims’ families,” asked Catallo.
“I think I made it very clear during trial that I don't take this lightly at all. I know the loss that the families have experienced. I know the devastation that the families have experienced,” said defense attorney Mariell Lehman. “I do feel terrible for those families. I feel horrible for the community. They have all experienced something that they can never forget and losses that they can never get back. And it's not something that I've taken lightly throughout my representation of James.”
Lehman says she hopes now that the jury has delivered a verdict, the Oxford community can start to heal.
While Lehman says she doesn’t agree with the jury’s decision, she’s made it her mission since she was hired by James Crumbley to fight his case in the courtroom and not in the court of public opinion.
Now that the judge has lifted the gag order, Lehman agreed to answer some of our questions.
“James also feels terrible for what happened. He feels terrible for the families who lost their children, for the individuals who were directly affected by the shooting at Oxford High School. That's something that I don't know if people realize, but it's very true,” said Lehman.
After 10 hours of deliberation last week, a jury of six men and six women found James Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
His son was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to terrorism and murder charges for killing Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Madisyn Baldwin, and Justin Shilling inside Oxford High School on November 30, 2021.
As the first parents to be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a mass school shooting, James and Jennifer Crumbley made history.
“He wishes that he had made different decisions that day. Unfortunately, we can't go back and, looking in hindsight, maybe different decisions could have been made,” said Lehman.
Law enforcement testified that James Crumbley purchased the 9mm semi-automatic pistol just days before the school shooting, and his 15-year-old boasted on social media referring to the weapon as his own.
“He failed to perform his legal duty to prevent these kids from being killed and he failed their parents too,” said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald during her closing arguments as she implored the jury to find James Crumbley guilty.
“What the jurors had to do was incredibly difficult. The things that they had to watch. And I said it in my opening and in my closing, the things that they were going to see and hear during that trial were going to be incredibly difficult for them. And we knew that. I maintain that James did not do anything illegal in the storage of that firearm. In 2021, there were no laws regarding how that firearm is stored. He did not break any laws. I understand that that was an issue for the foreman,” said Lehman. “But there wasn't anything illegal about it, and James didn't know what his son would do. He didn't know that his son even knew where that firearm was.”
James Crumbley’s wife Jennifer took the stand during her trial, which also ended in a guilty verdict. On the stand, she said she wouldn’t do anything differently.
“Why didn't James take the stand,” asked Catallo.
“He has a right to remain silent. And we decided that he wasn't going to testify. He wanted to remain silent. He said all the things that we felt he could say on the stand in police interviews and on video and everything else. So, the jury got to hear from him.”
Lehman says James Crumbley did not see his wife’s testimony on the stand, but he is aware of what she said.
The prosecution stressed throughout the trial that both parents should have known that the shooter was in a mental health crisis.
“Can you give us any insight into what that relationship was like between father and son and how he missed this,” asked Catallo.
“They had a great relationship. They spent a lot of time together and they talked a lot. And it was never made an issue to James,” said Lehman. “You all heard James's sister testify that within days of James's son saying that he was mentally and physically dying to a friend, that the sister and other family members saw him in another state, and he was fine. Nobody saw anything. So, it wasn't just James. There were a number of people who didn't see anything, and I think that as a parent, you just don't see it sometimes. And I think that most parents can relate to that, whether they want to admit it or not.”
Since the verdict, news has emerged that a school counselor and the school’s Dean of Students – who were the last administrators to meet with the shooter before his rampage – were given something called proffer letters so the information they provided to prosecutors would not be used to file charges against them.
“Were you ever given any information that there was some protection from prosecution offered to those witnesses,” asked Catallo.
“I don't recall ever receiving anything in writing from the prosecutor's office indicating that there was any protection for any of the school employees,” said Lehman.
“What do you think about that,” asked Catallo.
“If it's true? I think that they should have told us,” said Lehman.
While the prosecutor has now revealed James Crumbley made threats against her during jailhouse calls with his sister, Lehman declined to comment on that other than to say in a written statement, “We continue to disagree with the prosecution’s characterization of the phone conversations with James.”
The 7 Investigators asked if Lehman had received any threats from the public during the course of the Crumbley case.
“Did you receive a lot of threats,” asked Catallo.
“I received quite a few,” said Lehman.
“Why did you take the case,” asked Catallo.
“Because I believed in it, and I still do,” said Lehman.
Those proffer agreements made for the school officials are not the same as immunity.
Officials from the prosecutor’s office say as of now there is no plan to charge those school officials because they say the facts don’t support a criminal charge.
While James Crumbley does have the right to appeal, Mariell Lehman says that’s not something she would handle.
Her main job now will be her efforts during sentencing. Both James and Jennifer Crumbley will be sentenced on April 9th. They each are facing up to 15 years in prison.
