“Ya know, you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they’ll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father.” -Tod, from Parenthood
Those parents sure are a piece of work.
prosecution has rested, defence has called first witness, and the judge believes the jury will get the case today.
jury has the case and there could be a verdict anytime now.
The jury came back with a verdict: guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, just like his wife.
Yeah! Thanks for the updates, you guys, especially @rocking_chair .
The family that goes to prison together…
What do Dopers think of sentencing the shooter to life without possibility of parole (LWOP) despite the fact that he was a minor (15 YO) when he committed the crime?
And what do you think of accusations that the prosecutor’s decision to charge the parents with involuntary manslaughter was “political?”
Some people say that it’s a travesty to have given the shooter LWOP because a person’s brain is not fully mature until around age 25 or so and that he should at least have the ability to receive rehabilitation and be released someday, even if not until he’s 50 or 70. And because the parents’ actions were so egregious that the shooter had no chance to grow up halfway normally or even be protected from his own violent urges by being given help before it could get to the point that it did.
I get the argument, and I do think the shooter is a victim in some ways. I do think we Americans are too hungry for retribution but never mercy. But OTOH, what he did is very serious, and most teens don’t commit mass shootings, even teens who have abusive parents and/or other terrible life circumstances growing up.
And the assertion that the prosecution of the parents was “political” also gets under my skin. Prosecuting the parents for buying their son a gun that they did not bother to secure and that he used in a school shooting is political? Expecting gun owners to be reasonably responsible with use and storage of their guns is political? What?
Moderating:
Reminder that this is a breaking news thread, and if you want to argue the politics of the situation, please take it to another thread, or start a new one.
It’s come the that those threats were against the prosecutor.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/19/us/james-crumbley-threat-prosecutor
" James Crumbley, the father of the teenager who fatally shot four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, allegedly threatened Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald in a jailhouse call with a family member, saying the prosecutor was going to hell soon, she better be scared and she was done, a source close to the prosecutor’s office and a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
“He actually said that he hoped I was listening. He hoped I was listening when he threatened me physically,” McDonald told CNN affiliate WXYZ.
McDonald said one of most disturbing threats took place in January, the same month that the trial was set to begin. The prosecutor did not elaborate on that threat but did say at one point, he threatened her physically."
He sounds nice.
Of course, I’ve heard/seen that (“he sounds nice”) a hundred times in a hundred contexts…but this time I just laughed and laughed. Not sure why. Maybe because I hear it in the voice* of Alfred E. Neuman?
*My personal version of this voice, of course…
So, taking stock of these two nitwits:
Mom: “Learn how to not get caught LOL” and “I wouldn’t change anything we did.”
Dad: “Hey, kid, feeling bad? Just suck it up” and “Hey, prosecutor, watch out!!”
A nice, long prison sentence sounds like just what they are needing. Let’s hope they both get some desperately needed help while in there, as it appears they both sorely need it - I am assuming they both will eventually rejoin civilized society.
Dad reads as a touch angry. He’s channeling his inner Trump:
OK sure, he may be going for the “they’re coming down hard on me because I’ve trash talked them” appeal gambit.
That whole family needs to be removed from society.
Maybe, but I’m pretty sure the way it’s actually going to go is “They’re coming down hard on you because you have provided ample evidence that not only do you lack remorse, you are a violent man who may be a danger to society if released.”
I wonder if the father’s anger issues were inherited by the shooter? Or perhaps the father’s issues screwed up the kid enough that he acted out?
From what I’ve read it appears that both parents played a role in damaging their son.
10-15 years for both parents.
the judge said the guidelines were not enough.