Judge’s determination due on Sept. 29

By Don Rush

After more than 20 hours of testimony spread over four days in three weeks of hearings, on Friday Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwame Rowe pounded his gavel at 12:53 p.m. Judge Rowe informed those in his courtroom he expects to announce his decision on whether the confessed Nov. 30, 2021 shooter was mentally ill or not when he killed four classmates, wounded six others and one teacher. He also told the court he expected Ethan Crumbley’s sentencing to be on Dec. 8.

This past October, the shooter confessed to killing his classmates Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17.

The so-called Miller Hearing was to determine if the shooter, now 17, should spend life in prison without parole, sentenced as an adult, or because he was only 15 when he committed the crime, his sentence should be something less.

A Miller Hearing is required for young offenders facing life in prison without parole. The US Supreme Court ruled mandatory life in prison is unconstitutional for those 18 and under, as such the prosecution must prove to the court that certain factors about the crime and the person who committed it aren’t enough to outweigh a sentence of life in prison. During the three weeks of the hearing, witnesses for both the prosecution and defense argued whether or not the shooter was mentally competent at the time of the shooting.

On Friday, Judge Rowe heard the hearing’s last witness. Forensic psychiatrist Lisa Anacker MD was a rebuttal witness for the prosecution. For over two hours of testimony and cross examination, she refuted testimony from the defense’s expert witness that the shootings were the result of the teen who suffered from mental illness and was ignored by his parents.

“When you look at the totality of the data,” Anacker testified, “ . . . I don’t think he met the level of functional impairment that’s necessary for a major depressive disorder diagnosis.”

On Aug. 1 the defense’s expert witness, Dr. Colin King, felt the shooter could be rehabilitated. Dr. King testified after meeting with the shooter six times, two virtually and four in person, he concluded the defendant has major depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. “He is mentally ill,” Dr. King said.

When asked by both the defense and prosecution attorneys if he thought the defendant could be “rehabilitated,” Dr. King answered, “Yes, I do.”

During his testimony, Dr. King said the shooter had two episodes where he had received blows to the head and blacked out, stating he believed these incidents caused brain damage. “There was no evidence of his parents taking him to the doctors after,” he said. He showed Judge Rowe how soft the brain is by dropping an egg into a glass bowl from about two feet.

He said his diagnosis was based on the interviews and a battery of about a dozen different tests for such items as depression, anxiety, IQ and psychoses.

Last Friday, before pounding his gavel and ending the hearing, Judge Rowe told both the prosecution and defense teams he would hear no more evidence in September when he will make his decision.