Foreseeability: If The Experts Didn’t Predict A Shooting, How Could A Parent
The entire criminal case against James Crumbley rests on one legal requirement: foreseeability. To convict a parent of involuntary manslaughter for a child’s actions, prosecutors had to prove James could reasonably predict what Ethan was about to do. The appeal argues that proof simply does not exist in this case.
The filing states that every trained professional who interacted with Ethan the morning of the shooting determined he was not a threat. Counselor Shawn Hopkins specifically said his concern was only for Ethan’s emotional struggles, “not that he was a threat to the school.”
The defense emphasizes that Hopkins never instructed James to remove Ethan from the building, never requested an immediate evaluation, and never suggested he was dangerous to others. Instead, Hopkins viewed Ethan as a student who simply needed therapy for stress and anxiety.
Dean of Students Nick Ejak also testified he saw no signs of violence. According to Attorney Sharons appeal, Ejak stated:
“EC’s behavior did not show a pattern of what he was planning to do two hours later”
and he “did not believe that EC was a threat given everything that he knew.”
These were the people trained in behavioral evaluation.
These were the adults with the most information at the most critical moment.
And they saw no reason to act differently.
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NEXT ➜ PAGE 8: PROFESSIONALS FAILED FIRST — THE SCHOOL MISSED WHAT THE STATE CLAIMS JAMES SHOULD HAVE SEEN
On Page 8, we show how the trained school officials, who met with Ethan face-to-face just hours before the attack, saw no threat at all. Sharon argues the prosecution is holding James to a higher standard than the very professionals whose job was to detect danger. If the experts failed first, she says, the law cannot blame the father for not seeing what no one else did.
Click Page 8 to learn how this legal cornerstone could unravel the entire conviction.