DETROIT — A three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied the Oxford High School shooter's requests to withdraw his guilty plea or be resentenced after an Oakland County judge declined to do both.

In a brief order issued Tuesday, Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Randy Wallace wrote that the requests were denied for a "lack of merit in the grounds presented." No other explanation was given by the panel that included Court of Appeals judges Sima Patel and Thomas C. Cameron.

When Ethan Crumbley's appellate attorney Jacqueline Ouvry appealed the Oakland County ruling, she wrote that Crumbley's legal team during his case failed to properly investigate mitigating factors before Crumbley pleaded guilty to killing four classmates and injuring six others and a teacher.

Ouvry also contended that Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwame Rowe did not have all the information on mitigating factors prior to sentencing Crumbley to life without parole in prison. Ouvry was not immediately available Tuesday to comment on the ruling.

"The failure to conduct a mitigation investigation or retain a mitigation specialist created a snowball effect that impacted every portion of the Miller hearing, and each issue that Ethan raised in his postconviction motions," Ouvry wrote in her request to the Court of Appeals to grant Crumbley leave to appeal. "A mitigation investigation would have led the defense team to the right experts that were necessary to provide the circuit court with a full picture of Ethan."

Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting at Oxford High School, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to killing four classmates: Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. He also pleaded guilty to injuring six other students and a teacher and an act of terrorism for firing his gun at least 33 times inside the school.

Crumbley, 19, is currently serving a life sentence without the chance of parole.

Rowe denied Crumbley's postconviction requests Dec. 19 without a hearing to determine if Crumbley had ineffective assistance of counsel, without allowing Ouvry to submit more information and without hearing oral arguments.

"The Court finds that trial counsel was not ineffective as Defendant has failed to provide any factual predicate for his claims," Rowe wrote. "Additionally, Defendant has failed to show that there is a reasonable likelihood of a different outcome but for trial counsel's alleged errors. The Court finds that Defendant's sentence is constitutional and proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the offender."

The Oakland County Circuit judge also found that Ouvry violated court rules because she did not request permission to exceed the page limits before she filed a too-long motion. Rowe said he would not accept any additional briefs.

Ouvry objected, arguing that these penalties were inappropriate and that Rowe did not have the power to impose them. Rowe rejected her motion for reconsideration in November.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the ruling reaffirms basic truths.

"On November 30, 2021, the shooter murdered Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling, he wounded seven others, and he terrorized an entire community. The shooter had his day in court. A judge weighed the severity of his crimes and rendered a fair sentence," McDonald wrote in a statement.

The tragedy was completely avoidable, she added.

"As Judge Kwame Rowe said at sentencing, the shooter had multiple opportunities to make different decisions. He did not. His parents too had multiple opportunities to prevent the shooting. They did not. As a society, we must start treating gun violence as the public health crisis that it is," McDonald said.

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