OXFORD, Mich. – James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford High School shooter, has asked for his involuntary manslaughter trial to be moved out of Oakland County.
On Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, Crumbley’s defense team filed a motion asking for a change of venue ahead of his trial, which is scheduled to begin March 5. Crumbley is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter -- one for each of the students killed by his son in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting.
Why does Crumbley and his defense team want to move his trial out of Oakland County? They claim the widespread media coverage surrounding the parents of the shooter would make it difficult to seat an impartial jury.
“[I]f a case has received widespread pretrial publicity, one of the parties may make a motion (request to the judge) for change of venue in an effort to secure jurors who haven’t already formed an opinion about the case,” the American Bar Association says.
Just 10 days ago, Crumbley’s wife was found guilty of all four counts after a nine-day jury trial. The case received widespread local and national coverage, including seven days of witness testimony and two days of jury deliberation.
Crumbley’s lawyers pointed to that extensive coverage, in addition to post-trial appearances by the prosecutors and the forewoman of the jury.
Crumbley’s trial is separate from his wife’s, but his lawyers don’t believe the extent of past coverage will give him a fair chance at the same courthouse. They argued that jurors pulled from Oakland County would already have knowledge about the case and be prejudiced against Crumbley.
Judge Cheryl A. Matthews, who oversees both parents’ trials, will make a ruling on this matter. If the request is granted, James Crumbley would move to a different county with a new jury pool.
Before the Crumbley parents asked for separate trials -- a request Matthews granted in mid-November -- they were denied a similar request to move their case out of Oakland County. Matthews ruled that the level of publicity hadn’t reached a point that would warrant such a move.
“The level of pretrial publicity, and the number of prospective jurors that might have been directly affected by the Oxford shooting alone is not enough to warrant a change of venue before conducting voir dire,” Judge Matthews said in 2022. “Oakland County is not a small community and is sufficiently diverse to weigh against a finding of presumed prejudice. It’s well-established that pretrial publicity alone does not warrant a change of venue.”
Now Matthews will have to decide whether the coverage of Jennifer Crumbley’s trial has changed her mind about that previous ruling.
Click here to read much more about this request and what would happen if it’s granted.