(WWJ) – New details about accused Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley are emerging as his parents’ attorneys filed several motions in court on Thursday looking to exclude certain evidence and bar some questioning from the trial, as well as limit pretrial media.
James and Jennifer Crumbley are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for the Nov. 30 shooting that claimed the lives of four Oxford students – Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling – and injured six other students and a teacher.
In one filing, the attorneys for the Crumbley parents are asking the court to limit Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald’s press conferences. Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman say McDonald has been releasing too much evidence in the case, and has been revealing her opinions about the couple.
The attorneys say that is prejudicing the jury and could prevent them from getting a fair trial.
In a separate filing, the attorneys are asking the court to exclude what they call “irrelevant evidence” in the case, including talk of the Crumbley’s messy house, marijuana and alcohol use and the hours they spent with their horses.
Some of that “irrelevant evidence” includes entries from Ethan Crumbley’s journal, including comments he made about hoping his shooting would get President Joe Biden impeached. The filings also say the teen had a coin from Nazi Germany and used the N word in his journal.
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The attorneys say there is no evidence the parents read his journal or knew about his internet searches – including about 400 searches related to graphic content regarding school shootings.
Another piece of evidence attorneys are asking to be excluded is a video of the teen killing and torturing baby birds, as well a journal entry about it.
“With one bird, EC wrote in his journal that he put it in a jar and left it in the school bathroom to see if he would get in trouble and if the school would notice. All of the evidence showing that EC did things with the birds and bird head come from his writings in the journal, the text messages he sent to his friend B, and the horrific videos he made with his phone,” the court filing says.
“The Crumbleys were completely unaware of what EC did with the birds, as his writings to both Band in his journal indicate he did those activities when his parents were not home. Evidently, EC claims that the bird head was in the jar in his closet for six months.”
Earlier on Thursday Judge Kwame Roe ordered Ethan Crumbley to remain in the Oakland County Jail, rather than be transferred to the Children's Village juvenile facility in Pontiac.
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