OXFORD, Mich. – The trial for Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter who killed four people, completed its seventh day Friday, and we have the full updates from the proceedings.
The prosecution called 21 witnesses to the stand over the first five and a half days of trial, and the defense called Crumbley to testify. Closing arguments were heard Friday, and the jury will return for deliberation on Monday morning.
Here are some quick facts heading into the trial:
- Jennifer and James Crumbley are both facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with their son’s mass shooting. Those charges stem from the deaths of 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.
- The Crumbley parents were originally going to be tried together, but they asked for separate trials in November, and a judge granted their request.
- Defense attorney Shannon Smith represents Jennifer Crumbley. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast, and chief assistant Oakland County Prosecutor David Williams represent the people. Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl A. Matthews is hearing the case.
- The shooter was sentenced in December to life in prison without the chance of parole.
Click here if you want to watch the proceedings live.
Here are the full updates from Day 7 of the trial:
Proceedings end
- 4:36 p.m. Friday
The judge reiterated that the jury will return at 9 a.m. Monday, and the proceedings came to an end.
Final jury instructions from Matthews
- 4:35 p.m. Friday
Matthews asked the jury to come back at 9 a.m. Monday to receive further instructions. She said it’s very important not to discuss or read about the case over the weekend.
Five of the 17 jurors will be drawn by lot and taken to a separate room, but they still need to show up.
The jury was excused from the courtroom.
McDonald’s rebuttal ends
- 4:33 p.m. Friday
McDonald’s rebuttal ended at 4:33 p.m. Friday. It lasted about 12 minutes.
McDonald: She hasn’t lost everything
- 4:33 p.m. Friday
McDonald said Jennifer Crumbley hasn’t lost everything because her son is still alive. Then, she asked the jury to find Jennifer Crumbley guilty of the charges.
‘Smallest act could have saved victims’
- 4:32 p.m. Friday
McDonald said the smallest action by Jennifer Crumbley could have saved the victims of the shooting. The prosecution put pictures of the four students who were killed up on the screen.
“And she sat there and said she wouldn’t do one thing different,” McDonald said.
McDonald: Guilty verdict won’t take away pain
- 4:31 p.m. Friday
McDonald said a guilty verdict won’t take away the pain that the families of the victims feel.
She said it won’t take away the pain from law enforcement officials who have the images of the shooting scene burned into their minds.
“But you are the ultimate pathfinder of truth,” McDonald said.
‘He drew her a picture’
- 4:27 p.m. Friday
McDonald said Jennifer Crumbley should have clearly seen that her son needed care.
“He drew her a picture,” McDonald said.
She said it’s not true that anyone could be sitting in Jennifer Crumbley’s shoes.
McDonald refutes Smith’s closing
- 4:24 p.m. Friday
McDonald said there was no evidence that anyone at the school told Jennifer Crumbley that what her son did the morning of the shooting was “no big deal.”
McDonald said she doesn’t have to prove that Jennifer Crumbley knew there would be a homicide. She has to prove that she neglected a legal duty and failed to take steps to protect the other students at the school when there was a reasonable foreseeability that care had to be performed.
She also said she had to defend the integrity of law enforcement officials because Smith suggested they all came into the case with an agenda. McDonald said if the jury believes what Smith said, then they have to believe that all law enforcement involved in this case was part of a conspiracy.
Prosecution’s rebuttal
- 4:21 p.m. Friday
McDonald said she gets the last word because the people bear the burden of proving guilt. She said that proof has to be beyond a reasonable doubt, not beyond any doubt.
Defense’s closing argument ends
- 4:21 p.m. Friday
Smith ended her closing argument at 4:21 p.m. Friday. It lasted an hour and 40 minutes.
‘Not only for her’
- 4:17 p.m. Friday
Smith asked the jury to find Jennifer Crumbley not guilty not only for her, but for every parent who’s doing the best they can and could easily be in her shoes.
Cable lock
- 4:09 p.m. Friday
Smith argued that “as far as Mrs. Crumbley knew, there was a cable lock on the gun at all times.”
She said the key for the cable lock was in “one of several” beer steins in the family’s home. Smith said the ammunition was hidden separately in a drawer of blue jeans.
James Crumbley’s responsibility for guns
- 4:06 p.m. Friday
“James was the parent responsible for all the storage in the house,” Smith said.
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley didn’t object to guns being in the house, but she wasn’t responsible at all for the storage of the weapon.
Smith said it’s also clear that James Crumbley pulled out the gun case and ammunition and put it on the bed after the shooting when he was checking for the gun.
Texts with attorneys
- 4:02 p.m. Friday
Smith read some earlier messages in the text conversation between the Crumbleys and their attorneys at the time, which included Smith.
She said the first messages from Jennifer Crumbley’s burner phone established that both James and Jennifer Crumbley were using that phone to communicate because the “other one broke.”
Smith on whether Crumbleys were fleeing
- 3:59 p.m. Friday
Smith said if you’re trying to flee police, you’re not going to stay around Oakland County with a vial of horse medicine.
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley was hiding to stay safe.
Smith said if they were trying to hide at the art studio, they weren’t doing it very well because they were walking around taking a tour of the building. She said there were cameras all over the building, and they went outside to smoke cigarettes.
Smith said it was “clear” from trial that the Crumbleys were receiving threats after the shooting.
“They were terrified,” Smith said. “They wanted to go in through a lawyer.”
Smith: Officials who testified had agenda
- 3:56 p.m. Friday
Smith said the police officers who testified came to the trial with an agenda, “and that agenda was not positive for Jennifer Crumbley.”
Smith used the example of Special Agent Brett Brandon refusing to answer her question when she asked if teenagers are capable of lying.
Jennifer Crumbley’s demeanor
- 3:53 p.m. Friday
Smith said the prosecution tried to misconstrue Jennifer Crumbley’s entire demeanor. Smith said that shows they don’t have a strong case.
Smith said it’s “nonsense” for officials to get on the stand and say Jennifer Crumbley acted incorrectly as the mother of a school shooter.
Smith argued there’s no handbook for how to act when your child kills someone.
She said nobody else who testified has experienced walking out of their home to police with drawn guns or waking up to police with drawn guns.
Messy house pictures
- 3:46 p.m. Friday
Smith said the pictures of the messy house were “so unnecessary.”
Smith said she’s been so busy getting ready for this trial that her Christmas tree is still up. She said her husband pointed out that they still have ceramic pumpkins up.
Her argument is that the prosecution simply wanted to make Jennifer Crumbley look bad.
Deleting messages
- 3:39 p.m. Friday
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley also deleted messages about the “string lock” and the weapon being locked separately from the ammunition, which would have helped her case.
“There’s no reason she would have deleted those messages that were helpful to her,” Smith said. “She’s just a person who deletes all of her messages.”
Smith eviscerates Brian Meloche
- 3:38 p.m. Friday
Smith said Brian Meloche’s testimony essentially has to be taken with a grain of salt. She pointed out that he had three separate, long interviews about Jennifer Crumbley with police.
She said Meloche admitted he felt pressure during those interviews, but after Keast had questioned him on the stand, “He got right back in line.”
“Brian is a terrible witness,” Smith said. “He said he has memory problems.”
Smith also pointed out that Meloche testified that the gun was in the car on the day of the shooting, and they all know that wasn’t the case.
“Brian is just an idiot and has no clue,” Smith said.
Horse riding hobby
- 3:34 p.m. Friday
Smith discounted how much the prosecution discussed Jennifer Crumbley’s hobby of riding horses.
“The fact that they have to stretch so much creates reasonable doubt,” Smith said.
She said it’s no different than a dad who likes golf and has a membership to a country club.
“To try to suggest it shows the priorities were on horses and not their so is just garbage,” Smith said. “This is a son who had everything he needed.”
Smith said the Crumbleys would go on trips, go camping, play board games, and let him bring his friend along.
Guns in Oxford
- 3:32 p.m. Friday
Smith said prosecutors focused on the fact that the Crumbleys didn’t tell school officials that they owned guns.
She then pointed to the testimony from school officials that guns were common around the area, including in homecoming pictures and with students going hunting before late start school days.
School’s handling of shooter
- 3:26 p.m. Friday
Smith said that at the meeting the morning of the shooting, school officials told Jennifer Crumbley that her son would likely be better off with his peers, not alone.
She said the phone call about the shooter researching bullets was “nonchalant” and didn’t ask for further action.
Smith said it was shocking to Jennifer Crumbley that her son’s situation was not considered a disciplinary issue when she found out that there had been issues of slacking off in class, watching violent videos, researching bullets, and drawing a gun in school.
Shooter’s journal
- 3:19 p.m. Friday
Smith said the information written in the shooter’s journal is alarming, but Jennifer Crumbley never saw those writings.
“To evaluate this case, you have to look at it from the perspective of what she knew,” Smith said.
Smith said the prosecution provided a lot of evidence that Jennifer Crumbley never even knew about.
Text messages with friend
- 3:18 p.m. Friday
Smith brought up the text messages between the shooter and his friend about wanting help.
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley sees that now and thinks it’s concerning, but she hadn’t seen it.
Smith then showed the stack of 20,000 messages between the shooter and his friend and said if there was more or better evidence in those texts, the prosecution would have paraded it in front of them.
‘An expert manipulator’
- 3:17 p.m. Friday
Smith said the shooter was an expert manipulator. She said he hid his issues from his parents so that he could get a gun.
She said he wouldn’t have wanted his parents to have concerns that stopped them from buying him a gun.
The prosecution’s evidence
- 3:16 p.m. Friday
Smith said it’s a sign that the prosecution doesn’t have evidence that they had to go back to March 2021 -- eight months before the shooting -- to find messages that suggested Jennifer Crumbley ignored warning signs.
Smith then showed the pile of messages the prosecution went through to try to find evidence of guilt and compared it to what they actually found, saying it was very little.
‘Big deal’
- 3:12 p.m. Friday
Smith said the prosecution “beat a dead horse” to prove Jennifer Crumbley was at the barn.
“Big deal, Jennifer’s at the barn and their son’s saying goofy stuff,” Smith said.
Smith said the shooter had an Ouija board and the family was joking about the house being haunted.
Smith said the prosecution had tunnel vision when they looked at all this evidence because they were determined to prove that Jennifer Crumbley had done something wrong.
Discounting prosecution’s evidence
- 3:07 p.m. Friday
Smith went through quite a bit of the prosecution’s evidence and said they don’t have much that’s relevant to an involuntary manslaughter case.
Smith said the prosecution proved that Jennifer Crumbley got strange texts from her son and then went to ride her horse.
She said the prosecution proved that Jennifer Crumbley had a drink on St. Patrick’s Day and then rode her horse.
Smith said the prosecution proved that the shooter texted about the house being haunted and that Jennifer Crumbley didn’t immediately text back.
Smith continues to talk about context
- 3:01 p.m. Friday
Smith talked about how elements of her own life could be taken out of context if she were in the same position of Jennifer Crumbley.
She said she has texted her husband that their daughter is “a psycho today” or “being a nutcase.”
Smith: Evidence with context
- 2:59 p.m. Friday
Smith said when you have more context, you can make more accurate decisions. She said prosecutors presented mostly useless evidence, such as Jennifer Crumbley calling her son an “oopsy” baby.
Smith said Amanda Holland’s testimony was irrelevant. She has toddlers, not a teenager, Smith argued.
Evidence about shooting
- 2:57 p.m. Friday
Smith said she was going to list “all of the doubts the defense believes exists.”
Smith said that the prosecution is “so desperate” to prosecute the case that they presented a mountain of evidence about the school shooting. Smith said the evidence was used in order to make the jury emotional and make them hate Jennifer Crumbley.
Smith said she could be in Jennifer Crumbley’s position
- 2:54 p.m. Friday
Smith said she could easily be in Jennifer Crumbley’s position, but she doesn’t have guns in her home.
She talked about her fourth child being an “oopsy” baby. She said she has good kids, but there are arguments every so often.
She said she has a son who doesn’t want to hang out with her very often, but she doesn’t believe any of her children would harm anyone.
“At the end of the day, my kids could just as easily grab a knife without me knowing it ... and walk out the door ... and my son could kill somebody with my butcher block knife that I would have never expected to happen,” Smith said.
She said if jurors saw the text messages she and her husband exchanged, “it would be so easy for me to be in her seat.”
Smith said she doesn’t search her children’s phones. She said her son plays “a lot of video games.”
Smith asked if she would be convicted of child pornography if her son exchanged nude pictures with a girl.
Decision based on facts
- 2:50 p.m. Friday
Smith asked that their opinions about herself as a person aren’t held against Jennifer Crumbley.
She asked them to make a determination about the case, not how they feel about Smith or Jennifer Crumbley.
“After trial, you don’t have to decide if you want to go to her house,” Smith said. “You don’t have to have Thanksgiving with her.”
‘I’m human’
- 2:48 p.m. Friday
“It’s obvious that real life is messy and complicated,” Smith said.
She said she is a lawyer who messes up. She said she can get thrown off or overwhelmed.
“All I’m saying is that I’m human,” Smith said. “I’m a human being, and so is Mrs. Crumbley.”
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley is not a perfect person or a perfect parent.
“I have stood before you and shown you all my flaws ... and so has Jennifer Crumbley,” Smith said.
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley got on the stand and talked about “every nook and cranny of her life” that nobody else knew.
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley had to show that she made immoral decisions, such as having an affair, in order to display the entire truth.
Opinions that matter
- 2:46 p.m. Friday
Smith said nobody’s opinion matters in this case other than Judge Matthews and the jury’s opinions.
Hindsight and full context
- 2:45 p.m. Friday
Smith said it’s easy to look back in hindsight and say things could have been different or something could have changed what happened.
She said it’s also much easier to make a determination when you have the full context around a situation. She said the prosecution cherrypicked details, but Jennifer Crumbley didn’t have all the information that they’ve seen.
Jennifer Crumbley taking stand
- 2:44 p.m. Friday
Smith said Jennifer Crumbley gave context to the evidence that prosecutors presented in “bits and pieces.”
Reasonable doubt
- 2:43 p.m. Friday
Smith said if the jurors have even “one reasonable doubt” about this case, they must determine that Jennifer Crumbley is not guilty.
“You have to be sure beyond a reasonable doubt,” Smith said.
She said she will go through the reasonable doubts that the defense believes exists.
‘No one expected this’
- 2:42 p.m. Friday
Smith said the school shooting was “unthinkable” and several other adjectives because nobody could have seen it coming.
“No one expected this,” Smith said. “No one could have expected this, even Mrs. Crumbley.”
Defense begins closing argument
- 2:41 p.m. Friday
Smith began her closing argument at 2:41 p.m.
Jury returns
- 2:41 p.m. Friday
The jury returned to the courtroom.
Jury arrangements
- 2:40 p.m. Friday
Matthews said she “used up all her brownie points” and they will be allowed to stay later if the two sides want the jury to begin deliberations that day.
Five jurors who are chosen as alternates would to sit in another jury room, sequestered apart from the other 12, who will also be sequestered, Matthews said.
Matthews returns
- 2:39 p.m. Friday
Judge Matthews returned, and court is back in session.
Jennifer Crumbley returns
- 2:38 p.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley was escorted back to the courtroom and took her place beside Smith, who had already returned.
Judge not sure about jury deliberations
- 2:34 p.m. Friday
Judge Matthews said early in the break that she knows both sides had mentioned the jury beginning their deliberations on Friday, but she doesn’t know if that will be possible.
This is likely due in part to the length of the break before closing arguments and also the length of McDonald’s closing argument itself. But Matthews had already expressed some concern about starting deliberations before the weekend.
Matthews appeared to prefer having all 17 jurors (including alternates) return to begin deliberations with a clean slate on Monday morning.
Short break
- 2:28 p.m. Friday
Defense attorney Shannon Smith asked for a quick break to use the restroom before her closing argument.
The jury was excused and Jennifer Crumbley was escorted out by deputies.
Prosecution finishes closing argument
- 2:27 p.m. Friday
McDonald finished her closing argument at 2:27 p.m. It lasted an hour and 17 minutes.
Prosecutor: Jennifer Crumbley’s knowledge, statements
- 2:24 p.m. Friday
McDonald showed two slides listing some of Jennifer Crumbley’s “knowledge” and “statements.”
Jennifer Crumbley last seen with gun
- 2:21 p.m. Friday
McDonald pointed out that Jennifer Crumbley was the last person actually seen with the SIG Sauer before the Oxford High School shooting.
This is the photo they showed from the shooting range.
Cable lock
- 2:20 p.m. Friday
McDonald said Jennifer Crumbley claims the cable lock was used to secure the SIG Sauer.
“It’s never been opened, and it’s never been used,” McDonald said.
Math worksheet compared to shooting photos
- 2:19 p.m. Friday
Prosecution: ‘What Jennifer didn’t say’
- 2:13 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Jennifer Crumbley after shooting
- 2:11 p.m. Friday
Prosecution’s timeline
- 2:09 p.m. Friday
Deleted messages
- 2:08 p.m. Friday
Shooter’s journal
- 2:07 p.m. Friday
McDonald also went through two of the statements from the shooter’s journal.
Distancing from gun
- 2:06 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Jennifer Crumbley and gun storage
- 2:04 p.m. Friday
Prosecution points to ‘conflicting statements’
- 2:03 p.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley knowledge about son
- 2:01 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Lt. Timothy Willis
- 2 p.m. Friday
Willas was sitting at the prosecution’s table, so McDonald didn’t show a slide. She talked about how he was the officer in charge of the Oxford High School shooting investigation.
McDonald reminded the jury about how Willis went through the footage of the shooting.
Prosecution on William Creer
- 1:59 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Brian Meloche
- 1:57 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on David Shaw
- 1:56 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Luke Kirtley
- 1:55 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on David Hendrick
- 1:53 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Lt. Sam Marzban
- 1:52 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Robert Koteles
- 1:51 p.m. Friday
NOTE: The camera did not show the slide for Koteles.
McDonald said Koteles processed the scene at the school. She said those photos were difficult to see.
Prosecution on Sgt. Matthew Peschke
- 1:48 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Adam Stoyek
- 1:45 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Amanda Holland
- 1:43 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Andrew Smith
- 1:42 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Sgt. Joe Brian
- 1:41 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Nicholas Ejak
- 1:38 p.m. Friday
NOTE: It appears Ejak’s last name is misspelled on the prosecution’s slide.
Prosecution on Shawn Hopkins
- 1:35 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Kira Pennock
- 1:32 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Edward Wagrowski
- 1:30 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Special Agent Brett Brandon
- 1:25 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Cammy Back
- 1:24 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Kristy Gibson-Marshall
- 1:22 p.m. Friday
Prosecution on Molly Darnell
- 1:21 p.m. Friday
McDonald goes back through witnesses
- 1:20 p.m. Friday
McDonald went back through and highlighted some of the key points made by the prosecution’s witnesses.
The slides from her closing statement will be posted.
‘I think we have’ facts to prove case
- 1:19 p.m. Friday
McDonald said it would take some pretty incredible facts to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jennifer Crumbley is guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
“I think we have that,” McDonald said.
Explaining involuntary manslaughter
- 1:16 p.m. Friday
McDonald spoke about exactly what was at issue in this case and what it means to be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Observations from jury box
- 1:15 p.m. Friday
“You’re allowed to use your own observations and your own insight,” McDonald said.
She told them if there’s something they noticed from the witness stand that prosecutors didn’t specifically talk about, they should consider that in their decision.
“I encourage you to rely on your own perceptions of that,” McDonald said.
No filtering evidence
- 1:14 p.m. Friday
“There was no picking and choosing the very best evidence to show you,” McDonald said. “There was no filtering out evidence that wouldn’t help our case.”
She said she believes the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Jennifer Crumbley is guilty.
‘Not right to sanitize’ what happened
- 1:13 p.m. Friday
McDonald said it wouldn’t have been right for prosecutors to “sanitize what happened in the school that day.”
She said she believes she had met the burden of proving that Jennifer Crumbley is guilty.
Prosecution’s closing argument
- 1:10 p.m. Friday
McDonald began the prosecution’s closing argument at 1:10 p.m.
She said she is going to spend time going through evidence and elements of the crime.
She said it wasn’t easy listening and watching as the events of four children being killed were broken down in court. She said it’s not an easy decision that they face.
“My job and our job is to present the evidence and the facts and tell you the truth,” McDonald said. “Telling the truth sometimes means showing you things none of us what to see.”
She said it’s not a prosecutor’s job to convict people.
Closings aren’t evidence
- 1:08 p.m. Friday
Before closing arguments, Matthews clarified to the jury that closing arguments are not evidence, they are arguments.
No rebuttal
- 1:08 p.m. Friday
Matthews clarified that the defense rests, and Keast said the prosecution has no rebuttal.
Jury enters courtroom
- 1:07 p.m. Friday
The jury re-entered the courtroom.
When will jury deliberation begin?
- 1:05 p.m. Friday
Matthews said she plans to have all 17 jury members return Monday, including the alternates.
Smith said she thinks the jury could start deliberating after closings and before being sent home Friday.
“I’m concerned about that,” Matthews said. “Are you not concerned about that?”
“No, judge,” Keast said.
Matthews asked Smith, Keast, and McDonald to approach. They spoke for a few moments with no audio allowed.
Judge goes over jury instructions
- 1:01 p.m. Friday
Matthews went over the jury instructions that were established about two weeks ago.
The details of those items were not specified, but both the prosecution and the defense agreed. This appeared to be procedural.
Among the items mentioned were witnesses who didn’t end up being called to testify, the agreement not to use the shooter’s name, and the charges.
Court back in session
- 12:57 p.m. Friday
Judge Matthews returned to the stand. Court is back in session.
Jennifer Crumbley returns
- 12:55 p.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley returned to the courtroom.
Keast suggests dishonesty under oath
- 12:43 p.m. Friday
It was very intentional for Keast to begin his cross examination of Jennifer Crumbley by suggesting that she hasn’t been truthful on the stand.
After Jennifer Crumbley was sworn in, Keast said he wanted to talk about her vigilance as a parent.
“But before I do, I want to make sure you understood the oath that you just took,” Keast said.
“I do,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
“You understand that you took the stand under oath and you have to tell the truth?” he asked.
“I do,” she said.
“You understand that was the rules yesterday, as well?” he asked.
“Correct,” she said.
“OK, we’re going to come back to that,” he said.
Later, after he played audio of two phone calls Jennifer Crumbley made to her father while she was in custody, Keast went back to the above exchange.
“Now, when we started, we confirmed that you understood the oath that you just took and that same oath you took yesterday,” Keast said.
“Correct,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
Keast followed with a series of questions about the time period between the shooting and when the Crumbleys were arrested. Jennifer Crumbley said she did not deny any of his statements.
Keast read some of Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony about taking Xanax around 11 p.m. Dec. 3 and going to sleep. He highlighted when she said she was asleep until police entered the art studio and that she didn’t know what was going on before that.
“That’s your testimony?” Keast asked on Friday.
“Correct,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
“And you know that when you say something that isn’t true, that’s called a lie?” he asked.
“Correct,” she said.
‘Don’t do it’ text
- 12:29 p.m. Friday
During her testimony on Thursday, Jennifer Crumbley explained why she texted her son “don’t do it” after she had learned about the shooting at Oxford High School.
She said it was because she thought he was going to kill himself.
Click here to read more about what she said in a full breakdown of that explanation.
What’s next after break?
- 12:21 p.m. Friday
When the proceedings resume, Matthews will ask the prosecution if it has a rebuttal, which would consist of a response to contradict Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony.
Then, the two sides will make their closing arguments, unless there are other procedural matters that interrupt (which has been common throughout this trial).
Break reaches 1 hour
- 12:12 p.m. Friday
The judge left the courtroom at 11:12 a.m. Friday, so it’s been one hour since the break began.
Matthews is likely also giving the jury a chance to each lunch, since they’re already out of the courtroom.
Prosecution on closing argument
- 11:59 a.m. Friday
Before court went into a break, McDonald said that there was something in Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony that prosecutors want to include in their closing.
It’s possible that could have something to do with Jennifer Crumbley calling the murder weapon “his gun,” referring to her son.
Prosecutors would likely argue that that statement contradicts testimony that the shooter wasn’t allowed to have access to the gun whenever he wanted.
Jennifer Crumbley said the gun was hidden separately from bullets and that it was locked with a cable lock. She said the key to open that cable lock was kept in a beer stein displayed in the kitchen of the home, while the gun itself remained in the parents’ bedroom.
Will prosecutors have rebuttal?
- 11:48 a.m. Friday
Before she left for the break, Matthews asked prosecutors to get back to her about a rebuttal.
“Do you want to get back to me shortly and let me know if you’re going to have a rebuttal?” Matthews asked.
“Yes,” McDonald said.
“Yes, judge,” Keast said.
“OK, because that will determine what we do next,” Matthews said.
“Sound good,” Keast said. “Thanks judge.”
“Thanks, Your Honor,” McDonald said.
Witness plans continue to be theme
- 11:38 a.m. Friday
Throughout the first five days of the trial, Smith asked prosecutors to extend her the “professional courtesy” of disclosing which witnesses would be called and on what schedule.
Keast and McDonald frequently told her, “You’ll know when we know.” Smith was clearly frustrated at the lack of clarity.
That shoe appeared to be on the other foot Friday, as Smith and the defense rested after Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony.
McDonald told the judge that Smith had told them she planned to call two more witnesses. Smith claimed her plan changed. She said those witnesses were going to be the parents of Jennifer Crumbley.
Instead, Smith moved to proceed to closing.
Clarification from cross examination
- 11:26 a.m. Friday
During Keast’s cross examination of Jennifer Crumbley, there was a moment when he said she testified that she “took (her son’s) gun away” during an argument. She said that’s not what she said.
This was after Keast pointed out that the shooter must have had his phone because he recorded a video with it at 10 p.m. that night -- Nov. 29, 2021 -- the night before the shooting.
Crumbley said he must have gotten his phone back.
Here is the full exchange:
“I don’t know if he got it back,” Jennifer Crumbley said. “I know we took the shooting range away and we took his gun away, so I don’t know if he got it back.”
Keast began to ask another question, but then said, “Actually I want to go back to what you just said. ‘You took his gun away.’”
“We took the shooting range away,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
“You said you took his gun away,” Keast said.
“No, I said we took the shooting range away,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
Prosecutors to deliberate
- 11:12 a.m. Friday
McDonald and the prosecution asked for 30 minutes to deliberate after Smith said she is ready for closing statements.
The judge and Jennifer Crumbley left the courtroom.
Smith has no more witnesses
- 11:11 a.m. Friday
Smith said she had planned to call Jennifer Crumbley’s parents to the stand, but that she doesn’t plan to anymore.
McDonald said that was never Smith’s plan, she was always going to rest. Prosecutors want 30 minutes to discuss.
Defense rests
- 11:10 a.m. Friday
Smith said the defense rests and she’s ready for closing.
McDonald said she would need 30 minutes to prepare because Smith had said she was going to call two more witnesses.
Jury excused for short break
- 11:09 a.m. Friday
Matthews excused the jury for a 10-minute break.
Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony ends
- 11:08 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley left the stand and returned to the defense table beside Smith.
Burner phone use
- 11:07 a.m. Friday
Smith asked about the night of Dec. 3 into Dec. 4, 2021.
Jennifer Crumbley said her phone was the only one being used. She said her husband used her burner phone while she used her other phone because his phone had broken.
She said when she saw the surveillance video of her husband having a cigarette without her on Dec. 3, she figured she must have been asleep at the time because she didn’t like them being apart at that time.
Phone recordings were with father
- 11:06 a.m. Friday
Smith clarified that Jennifer Crumbley was talking to her father during the phone calls that were played in court.
She said she spoke with her dad daily. She was locked down 23 hours per day at that time, but had almost no other interaction with any other people.
“That’s about the most human contact I get,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
Redirect: Jennifer Crumbley
- 11:05 a.m. Friday
Smith said she had two areas of questions.
‘We took his gun away’
- 11:04 a.m. Friday
Keast clarified that the night before the shooting, she got into an argument with her son about grades and he walked outside.
He said she testified that they took her son’s phone away, but then he pointed out that her son took a video on his phone at 10 p.m. She said he might have gotten his phone back, but they told him he couldn’t go to the shooting range.
“I don’t know if he got it back,” Jennifer Crumbley said. “I know we took the shooting range away and we took his gun away, so I don’t know if he got it back.”
Keast began to ask another question, but then said, “Actually I want to go back to what you just said. ‘You took his gun away.’”
“We took the shooting range away,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
“You said you took his gun away,” Keast said.
“No, I said we took the shooting range away,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
Messages just entered into evidence
- 11:02 a.m. Friday
Keast said all the objective evidence suggests the officers were at the building before those messages were exchanged.
He also clarified in front of the jury that those messages were just entered into evidence that morning, and that Jennifer Crumbley didn’t know those were going to be shown when she testified on Thursday.
Messages with attorneys
- 10:59 a.m. Friday
Keast read through the messages between Jennifer Crumbley and her attorneys.
“(We) are going to come get you guys in the morning,” Smith texted Jennifer Crumbley at 7:02 p.m. Dec. 3, 2021. “We do not think it will help to make a statement that you’re coming back now or that it will be tomorrow a.m. We can say that we told everyone you were coming back, and as of tomorrow a.m., you were back.”
“We can show them that everything we said was going to happen, did happen,” Smith texted at 7:02 p.m.
“OK,” Jennifer Crumbley replied at 7:03 p.m.
“I’m going to drive home from my office right now and call you guys in about 40-45 minutes so I can get all the bond factor information written down for (the attorneys),” Smith said at 7:36 p.m. Dec. 3.
“OK, we’ll be waiting,” Jennifer Crumbley replied at 7:37 p.m.
“I’m going to call in one minute,” Smith said at 8:54 p.m. Dec. 3.
“OK,” Jennifer Crumbley responded.
“Think we might have found,” Jennifer Crumbley said in the next message at 11:14 p.m. Dec. 3. “Don’t know. Just head’s up. Please check.”
“That was written, but I do not believe it was written by me,” Jennifer Crumbley said in her testimony. She said she and her husband were both using the phone at that time because her husband’s broke.
Keast said these were the following messages:
- 11:16 p.m. Dec. 3: “Don’t know.”
- 11:16 p.m. Dec. 3: “We might have been found.”
- 11:16 p.m. Dec. 3: “Laying low.”
Jennifer Crumbley said she doesn’t deny that those are the records.
“Oh s---,” Smith replied at 11:16 p.m. Dec. 3, Keast read.
Dec. 3 timeline
- 10:58 a.m. Friday
Keast admitted the text thread that had been discussed at length with Matthews earlier in the day. He then established the timeline of Dec. 3 into Dec. 4, 2021.
The 911 call was made at 10:43 p.m. Dec. 3.
The first officers arrived before 11 p.m. Video showed James Crumbley outside smoking, and he walked in shortly after the 911 caller went inside.
Keast said there was testimony that police used a 35-pound steel ram to bash in the door next to the art studio. He said but she was asleep when officers entered the room. Jennifer Crumbley said that’s correct.
Police enter room
- 10:57 a.m. Friday
Keast clarified that the night of Dec. 3, Jennifer Crumbley said she went to bed at 11 p.m. after taking four Xanax. She said it was around 11 p.m.
Two alarms were set for 6:30 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. Dec. 4. She said yes.
Keast read a portion of her testimony from Thursday about when police entered the art studio. He said she testified that she was asleep when police entered the room and that she didn’t know what was going on inside the building beforehand.
Knowledge of charges
- 10:55 a.m. Friday
Keast said after Jennifer Crumbley looked up several articles about being charged, she texted Meloche, “We’re f-----.” She agreed.
She didn’t deny telling several people through messages that she was going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Items found in art studio
- 10:54 a.m. Friday
Keast said there was $6,000 in cash in Jennifer Crumbley’s purse when she was arrested. She agreed. He talked about all the items that were found in the art studio, and she didn’t deny any of them, including the cellphones.
She said she knew she had been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Phone call about taxes
- 10:52 a.m. Friday
In January 2022, a phone call played in court revealed Jennifer Crumbley talking to her dad once again. She said they were talking about filing taxes. She said he was doing her income taxes for her.
Phone call about calories
- 10:50 a.m. Friday
On Dec. 22, 2021, which was 18 days after she was arrested, a phone call from Jennifer Crumbley while she was in custody showed her asking her dad to look up how many calories are on a bologna sandwich and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
She also asked him to look up an apple and a banana. She said “they’re carb-loading me.”
Keast asked if that was still “planning mode.” She said no.
Emotional response
- 10:47 a.m. Friday
Keast said Jennifer Crumbley testified that she goes into “planning mode” in stressful situations. He said he wanted to talk about that response after she was arrested.
He said her priority on her first phone call was about the animals and the cash in the art studio.
He said it was 14 calls later that she even mentioned her son. She said she was under the impression that she couldn’t mention him or she would be flagged at the jail.
A year later, she said her son needed to “man up.” She said it sounds like something she would say.
Keast played a phone call where Jennifer Crumbley said she’s “throwing s--- against the wall to see if it sticks.” She asked her dad in that call to set up a GoFundMe to pay for boarding for her horses.
Texting ‘I love you’
- 10:44 a.m. Friday
Keast asked Jennifer Crumbley about expressing emotions. He said she had some “explosive, emotional” fights with her husband. She agreed.
He said those fights happened at the home where their son lived. She said yes.
Keast clarified that it was hard for Jennifer Crumbley to get her son to get her son to say he loved her because he was a teenager. She agreed.
He said the word “love” came up three times in the entire text chain between Jennifer Crumbley and her son. Once was in regard to chess about a year prior, and the other two were exchanged right before and right after the shooting at the school.
Jennifer Crumbley said she doesn’t deny that that would be accurate.
Meeting at school
- 10:42 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley didn’t deny that she could have left work for the day after their meeting on the morning of the shooting.
She said she didn’t tell school officials that her son had received a gun as a gift because she didn’t think it was relevant.
She acknowledged that she didn’t go home to look for the gun after the meeting. She said she didn’t have reason to.
She also said she had plans to go to the barn after work that day.
Keast asked if she would have had time to stop home after the meeting before returning to work. She said she would have but she think there was a reason to do so.
Buying ammo
- 10:41 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley said she bought the rounds at the range because those were the ones her son told her to buy.
Keast asked why she bought 100 rounds of ammunition and they only fired 50 rounds at the range.
Keast clarified that Jennifer Crumbley was the one who hid the remaining ammunition after returning home from the range.
Trusting James Crumbley
- 10:39 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley agreed that owning a gun is a “great responsibility.” She agreed that she trusted her husband to take care of that gun.
Keast showed messages that showed she didn’t trust her husband to get up on time, mow the grass, or keep the Ring doorbell on or off. Jennifer Crumbley said there were reasons for those things.
Jennifer Crumbley said she trusted her husband with their son. She said her husband had a hard time holding down a job after COVID and his mother’s death.
Tactics
- 10:37 a.m. Friday
Keast clarified that Jennifer Crumbley said it was her husband’s responsibility to care for the gun. She said yes.
He said Jennifer Crumbley was the one who went to the range with her son. She said she could tell at the range that he knew how to use a gun, but she didn’t have advanced knowledge of gun tactics until hearing testimony during the trial.
Gun purchase
- 10:36 a.m. Friday
Keast said the shooter had a “consistent desire to obtain a weapon.” Jennifer Crumbley didn’t agree with that phrasing.
She said he wanted a 9 mm, but she wasn’t really part of a conversation. She said she doesn’t deny that her son wanted to buy a gun.
Jennifer Crumbley said she didn’t know that her son and husband were going to the gun store that day. She said it was a surprise to her that they went that day, but it didn’t upset her that they went and bought a gun.
Checking shooter’s phone
- 10:35 a.m. Friday
Keast said Jennifer Crumbley never decided to look at her son’s phone, even though she calls herself a “helicopter parent.”
Shooter’s hobbies
- 10:34 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley said her son had stopped bowling in a league, but they went to the alley sometimes.
He only worked a few shifts after COVID. Jennifer Crumbley agreed her son didn’t work “very often.”
She agreed that she had never met any friends of her son who came over in 2021.
Keast said so she knew in November 2021 that her son had no peer support. She said he told her that he had friends he talked to at school.
Keast asked if he was in any clubs. She said no.
Halloween 2021
- 10:32 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley said the family found out the day before Halloween that the shooter’s friend wouldn’t be coming over because he had been taken out of state.
Keast said that didn’t stop the parents from going to multiple Halloween parties the next day without their son.
Missing school after friend leaves
- 10:31 a.m. Friday
Keast said the shooter missed school for a couple of days after his son moved out of state. Jennifer Crumbley said she doesn’t remember that. It could have been because he was sick, she said.
Keast clarified that the shooter’s friend was the only friend who would come over to their house. Jennifer Crumbley said there were no other friends he saw outside of school.
Buying 9 mm
- 10:30 a.m. Friday
Keast asked if she knew how much more powerful the 9 mm was than a 22-caliber. She said she didn’t know that until she fired it at the range.
Going to meeting
- 10:29 a.m. Friday
Keast said Jennifer Crumbley texted her husband “emergency” and described her son as “distraught” in another message. She agreed.
Math worksheet
- 10:27 a.m. Friday
Keast put the drawings on the math worksheet up on the screen. He clarified that the school counselor sent Jennifer Crumbley the photo of the math worksheet.
He asked her what struck her about the worksheet. She had said it was a “little concerning” the day before.
She said originally she was annoyed with her son for doing this because she thought it was in response to their argument about grades the night before.
Keast asked about the picture of the gun. He said it’s identical to the gun used in the shooting. Jennifer Crumbley said she didn’t analyze it that closely -- she just saw it as a gun.
Leaving work
- 10:26 a.m. Friday
Keast clarified she would leave work to meet Meloche. He said she could work from home and that her boss testified that she could leave if she had a family matter. Jennifer Crumbley agreed.
He asked if she had ever been called to the school for an immediate meeting before the morning of the shooting. She said no. Keast said she told her boss before going to the meeting that she would be back in about an hour. He said she was “putting a limit” on the meeting.
Texts as jokes
- 10:25 a.m. Friday
Keast asked if there’s any indication of any texts between Jennifer Crumbley and her son or husband that messages from the shooter were a joke. She said there’s no indication.
She also agreed she never took her son to see a counselor.
Son’s texts with friend
- 10:24 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley said she doesn’t deny that her son texted his friend that he asked his parents for help.
She didn’t deny that she said she thought he was asking depressed.
SIG Sauer handgun
- 10:23 a.m. Friday
Keast clarified that the SIG Sauer 9 mm gun was purchased by the Crumbleys. Jennifer Crumbley said yes.
He asked if it was gifted to their son. She said it was something he could use when they went to the shooting range.
Unanswered messages
- 10:22 a.m. Friday
Keast asked Jennifer Crumbley if she disputes that her son was sending her text messages while she was at the barn and that those messages went unanswered. She said she doesn’t dispute it.
Keast said there was a conversation where she sent a picture of her horse while she was at the barn. He was establishing that she had cell service to respond to messages at the barn.
More about affairs
- 10:20 a.m. Friday
Keast said there were messages on Aug. 4, 10, and 11, 2021, as well as Nov. 21 and 28, 2021, from Jennifer Crumbley on Adult Friend Finder.
He said Jennifer Crumbley and Meloche would arrange to meet with other people at a hotel.
On Nov. 28, 2021, Keast said Jennifer Crumbley arranged a meet-up with Adult Friend Finder. She said she never met with someone, and Keast said he’s talking about the time she spent setting that up.
“That’s not the only time that you devoted your own personal time or focus on it, is it?” Keast said. He said the meet-ups didn’t happen by themselves -- she had to set them up. She agreed.
Affair with Brian Meloche
- 10:14 a.m. Friday
Keast asked about the affair with Brian Meloche and said there were numerous photos and messages sent to him throughout the week.
Keast asked her what “Adult Friend Finder” is, and Jennifer Crumbley said it’s an app for adults to find what they’re looking for. Keast said it was found on Jennifer Crumbley’s phone.
Keast said she testified to having one extramarital affair for a six-month span. Keast said they have evidence to the contrary.
Vigilance as parent
- 10:14 a.m. Friday
Keast clarified that Jennifer Crumbley understands she took an oath and must tell the truth. She agreed.
Keast clarified that having horses is a time consuming hobby. She agreed that she went about three times per week.
She agreed that having horses is also expensive. Keast said she told a coworker that half of her salary goes to horses. She said she might have.
Jennifer Crumbley said she asked her son to go to the barn whenever she went to the barn, but he typically said no. She said he didn’t want to go.
Keast said ski patrol is also a time consuming hobby. Jennifer Crumbley said she worked 10 hours per week.
Cross examination: Jennifer Crumbley
- 10:13 a.m. Friday
The jury entered the courtroom.
Keast began his cross examination of Jennifer Crumbley.
Prosecutors return
- 10:11 a.m. Friday
Prosecutors returned to the courtroom and Jennifer Crumbley took the stand.
Prosecutors walk out
- 10:07 a.m. Friday
McDonald asked if the prosecution could have a moment to talk in the hallway.
Keast said it would only take a couple of minutes.
McDonald, Williams, and Keast all walked out of the courtroom.
No objection to text chain
- 10:05 a.m. Friday
Matthews said she reviewed all the texts. Smith said she has no objection to anything in the text chain.
Copies were handed to both sides.
Judge returns
- 10:04 a.m. Friday
Matthews returned to the courtroom and court is back in session.
Jennifer Crumbley returns
- 10:02 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley was escorted back into the courtroom by deputies. She took her seat next to Smith.
Smith says she’s not aware of texts
- 10:01 a.m. Friday
Smith said the text messages on her phone are set to delete after a year because she gets so many. As a result, she said she isn’t aware of the content of the text messages the judge is currently reviewing.
Smith requested a hard copy of the texts if they are admitted. Williams said he has no objection.
Williams appearance for prosecution
- 9:57 a.m. Friday
David Williams didn’t participate in the people’s case the first six days of the trial, but he spoke to the judge in court Friday because he’s the one who caught a glimpse of a screenshot showing “two words” of a text message before looking away.
He said that text was between Smith and Jennifer Crumbley’s burner phone. He said it was immediately sealed after the defense made it clear they would not waive privilege.
Jury hasn’t been in courtroom
- 9:51 a.m. Friday
Matthews said the jury arrived at 8:30 a.m. Friday, but they haven’t been inside the courtroom yet as the judge and both sides hash out this issue of privilege.
This is similar to Day 4 of the trial (Jan. 30), when the prosecution and defense argued over the transcript of Jennifer Crumbley and her husband at the police substation after the shooting. Smith objected to the transcript specifying that James Crumbley was “sobbing” without noting Jennifer Crumbley’s emotions.
The issue, as well as the winter weather on the roadways, pushed the first witness of the day -- former Oxford dean of students Nicholas Ejak -- back to 10:22 a.m.
Jennifer Crumbley escorted out again
- 9:37 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley was escorted out of the courtroom for the second time in a half hour.
Judge to review texts
- 9:36 a.m. Friday
Matthews is going to review the texts and make a determination on whether or not any of them are relevant to the issue of flight.
She left the courtroom briefly.
Matthews returns with decision
- 9:33 a.m. Friday
Matthews said she did more research on the matter and believes the privilege Jennifer Crumbley holds is her absolute right. She didn’t want to set a very dangerous precedent.
She said she also understands the prosecution’s point about how Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony could change the
“I cannot tell you how reluctant and how much I do not want to do this, because I think that the privilege is so important. However, I’ve been told this is going to be a limited review,” Matthews said. “I am going to review the texts for the purpose of determining whether or not there is reference in any way to flight.”
Crumbley, judge return
- 9:30 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley and Judge Matthews returned to the courtroom.
Judge’s faces critical decision
- 9:27 a.m. Friday
The decision by Matthews on this matter could be critical to the outcome of the trial.
When Jennifer Crumbley took the stand, Smith’s strategy was to have her methodically explain most of the key issues that have been brought up by the prosecution throughout five days of testimony.
She spoke about spending time with her son in relation to horses. She shared photos of family holidays and trips. She had an explanation for the strange text messages. She admitted to the affair and downplayed its importance in terms of her relationship with her son. She described an argument the night before the shooting and why that made her view the math worksheet through a different lens.
Jennifer Crumbley also painted a very different picture of the meeting with counselors than the one described by Shawn Hopkins. She said it was a group decision among all the adults to sent her son back to class and that she gladly would have taken him out of school if that was recommended.
But the issue of whether or not the Crumbleys were running from police is still a major topic under consideration. Jennifer Crumbley has the alarms set on her phone and the claim that she was in contact with her attorney working in her favor, but if there are text messages with Smith that suggest otherwise, that could be all the prosecution needs to discredit her entire testimony.
If Matthews allows prosecutors to use some of those text messages between Smith and her client, and those text messages suggest in any way that Jennifer Crumbley wasn’t truthful on the stand, it would be a major blow to the defense.
If not, Keast will have to make his case some other way during cross examination.
Judge takes recess
- 9:15 a.m. Friday
Matthews heard the arguments from both sides about the issue of attorney-client privilege and took a recess.
Exchange in question
- 9:14 a.m. Friday
This is the exchange between Smith and Jennifer Crumbley on Thursday during her testimony that has sparked this debate about whether privilege was waived:
“So you know you’re charged, and you know they want you,” Smith said. “What was your plan at that point?”
“I was in touch with my attorney,” Jennifer Crumbley replied.
“Me?” Smith asked.
“You,” Jennifer Crumbley said. “And I was taking your advice that we were going to turn ourselves in.”
Later, Smith asked another question that’s been highlighted by the prosecution.
“Ultimately, on the night of Dec. 3, were you aware on Friday afternoon that you could go into court that afternoon?” Smith asked. “What was your awareness?”
“I was not aware that we could go into court that afternoon,” Jennifer Crumbley said. “I was just waiting on direction from you.”
‘Dangerous precedent’
- 9:11 a.m. Friday
Williams said Jennifer Crumbley wants to claim that she didn’t know what she was doing so she was relying on the advice of her attorney.
He said the only way the court can know for sure if that’s true is if they look at the text messages.
Matthews said that sets a “dangerous precedent.”
Williams said he’s simply asking Matthews to review the messages and determine whether they’re relevant to the issue of flight.
What’s at issue
- 9:11 a.m. Friday
Matthews clarified that Jennifer Crumbley testified that she took four Xanax and went to sleep around 11 p.m. Dec. 3. Then a swarm of officers arrived around midnight and began their search.
Williams said Luke Kirtley called 911 at 10:43 p.m. Dec. 3. Keast said two Detroit police officers arrived at the scene just before 11 p.m.
Williams said it’s even relevant that Jennifer Crumbley was texting anyone at 11:16 p.m. if she claims to have been asleep by 11 p.m.
Text message in evidence
- 9:08 a.m. Friday
Williams said he glimpsed a text message from Jennifer Crumbley’s burner phone when prosecution was obtaining evidence for the case. He said he stopped reading it and asked Smith if she and Jennifer Crumbley wanted to invoke privilege.
They said they wanted to invoke privilege, so that message was sealed and nobody has seen it further, Williams claims.
Testimony won’t be struck from record
- 9:01 a.m. Friday
Smith said she didn’t mean for Jennifer Crumbley to “open that door.” She asked that whatever was brought up by her client about contact with her attorney be struck from the record.
Matthews said that’s not going to happen.
Did Jennifer Crumbley waive privilege?
- 9:01 a.m. Friday
Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Williams stepped forward to speak on the issue of Smith and Jennifer Crumbley potentially waiving privilege.
He said Jennifer Crumbley testified that she was in touch with her attorney and was waiting to turn herself in upon direction from Smith.
He said she can’t use messages with her attorney as a means of claiming she was going to turn herself in and then hide behind attorney-client privilege to it can’t be disproven.
Court in session
- 8:59 a.m. Friday
Judge Matthews arrived and court is in session.
Jennifer Crumbley arrives
- 8:57 a.m. Friday
Jennifer Crumbley was escorted into the courtroom and took her seat next to Smith.
Once court is called into session, she will likely head directly to the witness stand for cross examination.
Inside courtroom right now
- 8:50 a.m. Friday
Keast, McDonald, and Willis are seated at the prosecution’s table on the right side of the courtroom, with Special Agent Brett Brandon, Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Williams, and two assistants in the row behind them.
Smith is currently alone at the defense table -- Jennifer Crumbley has not yet been brought in. Smith has one assistant seated behind her.
Judge Matthews and the jury are not in the courtroom, but there are several people in the gallery awaiting Keast’s questioning of Jennifer Crumbley in cross examination.
Prosecutors arrive
- 8:43 a.m. Friday
Assistant Oakland County Prosector Marc Keast and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald walked into the courtroom.
Crumbley family
- 8:40 a.m. Friday
Smith showed dozens of Jennifer Crumbley’s Facebook photos during her questioning in an attempt to paint a more positive picture of the family.
She focused on pictures of family vacations, camping trips, and holidays. A majority of the pictures also showed the shooter with the friend who was later taken to another state for treatment (though that friend was redacted from the pictures).
Smith showed that Jennifer Crumbley decorated for Halloween, cooked for Thanksgiving, and loved going to the tree farm to cut down a tree every year before Christmas.
Prosecutors originally planned to object to several of the photos from before 2021, but ultimately agreed to admit all of the photos.
Shannon Smith in courtroom
- 8:36 a.m. Friday
As cameras turned on in the courtroom, they showed defense attorney Shannon Smith already at her table in the courtroom.
AFT Special Agent Brett Brandon and a few aides are also present, but there’s no sign yet of the prosecution or Judge Cheryl A. Matthews.
Lieutenant on ‘murder’
- 8:27 a.m. Friday
The last witness to testify for the prosecution was Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Timothy Willis, who was in charge of the Oxford High School shooting investigation.
One of the topics covered thoroughly during his testimony was the shooter’s journal, which included several references to shooting up the school and apparent cries for help from his parents.
During cross examination, defense attorney Shannon Smith clarified that Willis had no evidence that Jennifer Crumbley or her husband had ever seen what was written in that journal.
“No, if I had evidence of that, I imagine the charges would be different,” Willis said.
“If you had evidence that they saw the journal, the charges would be different?” Smith asked.
“Yeah, murder, I imagine,” Willis said.
Click here to read more about that part of Willis’ testimony.
Texts about ghosts, hallucinations
- 8:14 a.m. Friday
One of the primary strategies of Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony on Thursday was to give her side of the story in regard to some of her son’s strange text messages.
Prosecutors showed several instances in which the shooter sent Jennifer Crumbley texts about ghosts and demons in their house. He said someone flushed the toilet, slammed a door, and threw clothes around a room. He talked about hallucinations and said it only happened when his parents weren’t home.
Jennifer Crumbley didn’t immediately respond to these messages, and prosecutors suggested it was because she cared more about being at the horse barn than helping her son, but she had a different explanation.
Jennifer Crumbley said she got her son an Ouija board for Christmas, and he liked to play with it in the basement with his friend. She said it became a running joke in their family that the house was haunted, and they would play pranks on each other to keep up the charade.
She testified that she didn’t think those test messages were a big deal because she knew the shooter was just joking.
Click here to read our full breakdown of this testimony.
Smith, Jennifer Crumbley to discuss witnesses
- 8:02 a.m. Friday
Smith said she’s not sure which witnesses she will call on Friday after Jennifer Crumbley has been cross examined. She told the judge she is going to meet with Jennifer Crumbley after they leave the courtroom to discuss their options.
Smith said she and her client haven’t agreed on how they should approach this part of the case.
Once she’s decided who she will call on Friday, Smith said she would email that list to prosecutors.
What Keast wants; judge responds
- 7:49 a.m. Friday
Keast said he’s requesting to specifically cross examine Jennifer Crumbley about how she was in communication with Smith when she was apparently planning to turn herself in.
Keast said Smith sent a text message to police stating she couldn’t get ahold of her client. That has been barred from court due to attorney-client privilege.
“The issue is that Jennifer Crumbley testified that she did what she did because her lawyer told her to,” Keast said. “That’s the crux of it, and there’s evidence to the contrary, and I want that evidence to be admitted.”
Matthews asked Keast if he’s referencing a text or something else.
“There’s also texts from Ms. Smith to an officer,” Keast said. “There’s no privilege there, so that’s naturally going to be part of cross examination.”
“I might be inclined to let you ask her, ‘Did you testify that you were sleeping at 11:03?’” Mathews said. “’Yes.’ ‘Isn’t it true that you texted your lawyer at...’ I may allow you to do that.”
Matthews said before she makes a final determination on this issue, she’s going to get a member of her staff to figure out exactly what the statement was during Jennifer Crumbley’s testimony.
Keast says testimony waived privilege
- 7:35 a.m. Friday
Before the two sides could leave the courtroom on Thursday, Keast told the judge that Shannon Smith and Jennifer Crumbley waived their attorney-client privilege when they used their own conversation as testimony.
He’s talking about when Jennifer Crumbley testified that before her arrest, she was discussing turning herself in with Smith.
Whether or not the Crumbleys were fleeing from police is one of the topics being hotly debated during the trial.
Smith said she didn’t expect her client to mention her.
“I don’t believe she’s opened attorney-client privilege,” Smith said.
Keast said this is an issue of potential false testimony.
Smith said prosecutors and police have tried to turn her into a witness.
List of prosecution’s witnesses
- 7:26 a.m. Friday
The prosecution rested after its 21st witness on Thursday.
Here is a full list of the witnesses called by the prosecution.
Thursday:
- Molly Darnell, an Oxford High School staff member at the time of the shooting.
- Kristy Gibson-Marshall, the assistant principal at Oxford High School.
- Cammy Back, who works at the gun store where the Crumbleys bought the gun used in the shooting.
- ATF Special Agent Brett Brandon.
Friday:
- Edward Wągrowski, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office computer crimes unit.
Monday:
- Kira Pennock, the owner of the horse farm where the Crumbleys kept their horses.
- Shawn Hopkins, a Oxford High School counselor at the time of the shooting.
- Sgt. Joe Brian, a detective sergeant with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Tuesday:
- Nicholas Ejak, the dean of students for Oxford High School at the time of the shooting.
- Andrew Smith, Jennifer Crumbley’s boss at the time of the shooting.
- Amanda Holland, a coworker of Jennifer Crumbley’s at the time of the shooting.
- Detective Adam Stoyek, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
- Sgt. Matthew Peschke, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
- Robert Koteles, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office’s forensic lab. He is a crime scene supervisor.
Wednesday:
- Lt. Sam Marzban, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
- David Hendrick, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, who was in charge of finding the Crumbleys after the shooting.
- Luke Kirtley, the person who reported that the Crumbleys’ car was at a building in Detroit, where they were eventually arrested.
- David Shaw, a corporal for DPD and the first person into room where the Crumbleys were arrested.
- Brian Meloche, Jennifer Crumbley’s high school friend, and the man with whom she has an extramarital affair.
- William Creer, a forensic technician for Detroit police.
Thursday:
- Lt. Timothy Willis, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Breakdowns from previous court dates
- 7:12 a.m. Friday
If you missed any of our updates from the first six days of the Jennifer Crumbley trial, or from the jury selection process, here are links to those articles:
Court schedule for Friday
- 6:59 a.m. Friday
Day 7 of the trial will begin with assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast cross examining Jennifer Crumbley, who completed her testimony with the defense at the end of Thursday’s proceedings.
Judge Cheryl A. Matthews asked the jury to be ready by 8:30 a.m. Thursday.