Judge says Oxford High School shooter's sentence appeal requests 'violate the court rules'

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (Fox 2) - The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office has a month to respond to a request to appeal the Oxford High School shooter's sentence, a judge ruled Thursday.

Earlier this year, the State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) announced that it was seeking to withdraw his plea and appeal for a new sentence. 

SADO submitted briefs in June requesting to overturn the life without parole sentence and withdraw the guilty plea of the shooter, who is now 18 but was 15 when he killed four students and injured others.

Judge Kwame Rowe said the briefs filed violated court law because they were longer than 20 pages. Permission from the court is needed to submit motions that exceed 20 pages.

"They clearly violate the court rules," he said.

In its motions, SADO sought to have the case heard in June 2025, a year after submitting its initial briefs. Rowe noted that there is a six-month time limit for filing the appeals, and accused SADO attorneys of trying to extend that time limit without permission from the court.

"I was strongly inclined to simply strike the motions," Rowe said.

Instead, he gave the prosecutor's office time to provide a brief in response to the motions. Prosecutors have until Nov. 19 to submit a brief, which Rowe will then review and issue a written response to. SADO attorneys will not be permitted to amend or add supplemental information to their briefs because it is outside the six-month timeframe. 

Oral arguments will not be heard unless Rowe deems them necessary after getting the prosecutor's brief.

"It would simply be a waste of time," Rowe said of holding oral arguments next year. 

Why attorneys want to appeal

SADO said that while looking into the case, it "uncovered new and compelling evidence that does not support a life without parole sentence" in a press release after the motions were filed.

In that release, the office questioned whether the teen actually understood the plea.

"Due process requires that every person who pleads must understand what they are doing, this is even more true when the person pleading is a child," the release said.

SADO also pointed the finger at his parents, alleging that he may have suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome because his mother drank while pregnant with him. According to SADO, this could have stunted his emotional and social maturity as he aged. 

The shooter's age required him to undergo a series of court dates, known as a Miller hearing, before Rowe could decide that he could be sentenced to life without parole. After determining that he understood what he was doing, he was sentenced.

"The court cannot ignore the deep trauma defendant caused the state of Michigan, but in particular the Oxford community. The court simply cannot ignore that," Rowe said during the sentencing. "He chose not to die on that day, because he wanted the notoriety."

However, SADO argues that the sentence is inappropriate. 

"This type of sentence for a child goes against what we all know about kids — they change," attorneys with SADO wrote. "A life without parole sentence for a child is unconscionable."

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office and jurors also decided that the blame did not fall squarely on the teen. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are currently in prison after separate juries found them both guilty of involuntary manslaughter. They were sentenced to 10-15 years behind bars.

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