And the Universe makes some sense today.
The egregious facts of this case demanded a criminal case be filed against the parents. Given those facts, I don’t think this is a case of hard facts make bad law. Contrary to the bleating of Detroit-area commenters to articles in The Detroit News, I don’t believe this is a “slippery slope,” because it will be hard if not impossible to apply to a wider range of less extreme cases. I have an idea: Lock up your fucking guns for real.
It is galling to watch blowhard attorneys who are full of shit. These parents–both of them–would have been far-better served with public defenders. The jury is to be commended for their service in this horrible trial.
A few more observations. People have commented on Prosecutor McDonald second-chairing the trial. Of course she second-chaired. For my tax dollars (and I am not a resident of Oakland County), I want a prosecutor who can try a case. When a big case goes before a state supreme court, of course a state AG may make the actual argument on appeal instead of the trial attorneys. Does it mean s/he is eyeing a seat on the high court or some higher office? Maybe. But maybe it means s/he is doing their job.
Can you imagine Brooks Patterson, Richard Thompson or Jessica Cooper representing the county in a case like this? Me neither. I don’t know about David Gorcyca, but I do know he was the big boss when underlings in that office were busy conducting wrongful prosecutions that have since been reversed.
And as for the position that anything a prosecutor, AG or governor does is “just political”–those positions are political and they are politicians. They make decisions that impact their electability. Some, like Patterson, Thompson and Cooper, are not only less than qualified, they make dirty decisions.
And for you oldsters like me, when your boy Patterson was prosecuting attorney he started an exploratory committee so he could seek higher office. Any higher office would do–attorney general, governor, senator–whatever–anything up the food chain would work. Nobody seemed to have a problem with his open-ended desire for self-promotion and power. He had to settle for a lifetime county executive slot and thank god no one outside of Oakland County fell for his brand of stank.
Yesterday there was an interesting article in the Washington Post about the Jennifer Crumbley trial. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/05/jennifer-crumbley-trial/ . If you have a subscription, read the comments and compare them to the comments posted in articles about this case in The Detroit News. Make all the arguments you want about WAPO being left of center (the Media Bias chart has it “middle/skews left,” https://cms9files.revize.com/goshencountysd/GCSDLib/HSchools/Media-Bias-Chart-7.0_January-2021-Licensed-Copy-kqpxtc.pdf), commenters from the Detroit area skew hateful/misogynistic/racist. The Detroit Free Press no longer allows comments to their articles and the News should do the same.
Kudos to the jury for following the court’s instructions and seeing through the defense attorney’s shit storm (and no, it was not a strategy–nice try). I commend McDonald’s office for bringing this case on behalf of the four murder victims who were at Oxford High School, where they should have been safe.
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Will be interesting to see how her husband’s trial plays out.
I was tuned in every day for this trial since it happened 5 miles from my home. The parents definitely would not get parents of the year awards. Prosecutor did a great job. Unfortunately I thought the defense was lacking-although I’m sure Shannon is a very nice person. Nobody liked Jennifer and she came across as a cold unloving person. I also read the Washington Post article. Bernick says a gun law charging parents will affect the poor and inner city people. Well, are they that ignorant to not know how to lock up a gun and keep it out of the hands of kids? They sure are smart enough to get them. As far as reading the comments in the News-and I have been reading comments in the News, I’m sick of reading a few comments and some bozo has to start in on being a Trump lover or Biden lover when this isn’t about being a democrat or republican. It should be interesting to see where this all goes. James her husband’s trial starts in March. She’ll be sentenced April 9th. I’ll be glad when this whole thing is over so the families have some sort of closure.
I hope this brings us closer to a world with fewer mass shootings !!! Wishing peace to you and yours!!!!
Great point on Patterson and the exploratory committee. There is no better indication of a person seeking higher office.
As far as I know McDonald has not done this, and outright declined the open senate position. She does deserve the benefit of the doubt as to why she was second chair. She certainly has the experience to be there (assistant prosecutor, judge, private practice), and is smart enough to know how important this case has become.
If I recall correctly, she had to step down as a judge a year before the election in order to be able to run for the prosecutor position. So her history as to her commitment to the prosecutor position is apparent. I’ll be interested to see what her participation is in the next case.
There certainly seemed to be a long line of her chiefs and assistants sitting with her and behind her in the first row during the reading of the verdict. Then they all took time to hug and shake hands with the parents of the victims. It must have been a very satisfying moment for the prosecution team. I am looking forward to the day they do that with the families of the victims in the OCCK case. Forgive me if I do not hold my breath.
Breath-holding is ill advised in the OCCK case. And there might not be such a long line of assistant prosecutors on board. I believe the office is still heavily populated with old-timers who knew or should have known what Patterson, Thompson and Cooper were up to in their handling of the OCCK case.