(NewsNation) — As the manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley entered its third day, the case of the mother of convicted school shooter Ethan Crumbley will likely establish an important test case for parents’ liability in their children’s actions, a trial attorney and legal analyst said Monday.
Misty Marris, co-managing partner at Gordon, Rees, Scully, Mansukhani, told “NewsNation Now” the case will become a litmus test for parents’ liability moving forward where parents may be found guilty for the acts of their children.
“It’s always going to be a very, very facts-specific analysis of whether or not that can be done in any specific case,” Marris said. “This is really the test case … because there’s so much out there of what happened before.”
The prosecution is beginning to unfold its case against Jennifer Crumbley, Marris said, pointing to damaging text messages between Crumbley and her son on the day of the 2021 Oxford High School shooting that prosecutors said speak to the actions — or lack thereof — that Crumbley took in respect to Ethan Crumbley’s state of mind leading up to the deadly shooting.
Marris expects the defense to “latch onto” other evidence, such as the school counselor’s admission that he did not escalate concerns about a disturbing drawing linked to Ethan Crumbley that would have initiated a search of the student’s backpack.
She believes Crumbley’s attorney will claim their client cannot be held liable for her son’s actions “because there were intervening factors.”
“Both sides — prosecution, really focused on the failures and emissions and the defense (is) going to latch onto some of these nuggets that are coming out throughout the testimony,” Marris said.
Ethan Crumbley, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole after being found guilty in the 2021 shooting, said he will not testify on behalf of his mother. His father will go to trial in March.
With Ethan Crumbley’s attorneys expected to appeal the conviction, Marris said she is not surprised the teen will not testify in his parents’ trials. Jennifer Crumbley is expected to stand in her own defense as the trial continues.
Marris doesn’t believe the decision will ultimately make a difference to the jurors in his parents’ cases.