(AmericanProsperity.com) – Ethan Robert Crumbley, 15, is currently being held at a Michigan prison after fatally shooting four classmates and severely injuring seven others at Oxford High School. According to reports, attorneys Paulette Loftin and Amy Hopp submitted a court filing on Thursday with plans to assert an insanity defense during the time of the alleged act.
Accused School Shooter Ethan Crumbley Plans Insanity Defensehttps://t.co/6POi5gg2BI
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) January 27, 2022
Crumbley’s parents have been arrested on involuntary manslaughter charges and are currently being held on a $500,000 bond. According to evidence presented by prosecutors, James and Jennifer Crumbley failed to acknowledge their son’s love of guns, history of violence, auditory and visual hallucinations, and fascination with Nazi propaganda.
Court filings say the parents not only ignored their son’s troubling warning signs but even purchased the weapon used in the deadly school shooting. Prosecutors also introduced video footage that Ethan made in August 2021 in which he held a gun while telling a friend it was time to shoot up the school.
Michigan’s Model Penal Code
Michigan follows the Model Penal Code, which tests that a criminal defendant cannot be found not guilty because of insanity unless diagnosed with a specific or similar mental defect, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, when the individual commits the crime. The defendant must be totally unable to appreciate the criminality of their conduct or conform their behavior to the requirements of the law.
The mandate also says that a legally insane person must be diagnosed by someone specializing in mental health disorders. In addition, they must confirm the person committing a criminal act did not know right from wrong or profoundly lacked self-control leading up to the action.
According to the MCP test, it’s also important to note that having a mental illness or intellectual disability doesn’t necessarily constitute an insanity defense.
In the case of 15-year-old Crumbley, prosecutors say the parents failed their son, claiming they knew he had mental health issues and neglected to take action. They didn’t check his phone, review his online internet searches, or take him in to see a mental health professional at any point.
According to reports, Crumbley sent his mother a text message saying he thought he heard a demon or ghost in the house. He believed someone else was in the house with him. Prosecutors say this happened often, but his mother wouldn’t respond for hours.
Crumbley is currently facing terrorism charges, first-degree premeditated murder charges, seven counts of assault, and 12 counts of weapon offenses in the shooting deaths of his classmates.
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