DETROIT — A lawyer for the Oxford School District is moving to have Geoffrey Fieger's lawsuit seeking $100 million over a deadly shooting at the district's namesake high school put on hold, saying many more lawsuits are coming and the criminal cases need to take precedence.
Attorney Tim Mullins disclosed this development at a hearing in federal court Thursday after a judge recommended a motion for a stay — or a request to temporarily halt the case — be filed.
"I think it would be prudent for a motion to file a stay," U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith said. "We have a complicated case."
Mullins agreed and said he would file his request by Monday.
"There are criminal proceedings here that should not be interfered with," Mullins told the judge. "What should occur is a stay."
Mullins said he has heard from multiple lawyers who have told him that they also are planning to sue the school district, on behalf of students and their families, over the Nov. 30 shooting that killed four students and injured seven others, including a teacher.
"My prediction is this is going to get a lot more complicated," Mullins said. "There's plenty of time for addressing the civil issues in the matter."
An attorney from Fieger's law firm adamantly disagreed, arguing the criminal case could drag on for years, and that "none of the defendants in the civil suit are defendants in the criminal case" anyway.
"We would vehemently oppose that," plaintiffs lawyer James Harrington said of a stay, noting the criminal case involves "extremely significant charges."
"It's not going to take a couple months. This may take a couple years ... all the while memories fade," Harrington said, adding evidence could also be lost.
Harrington is part of the Fieger legal team that is seeking to hold the school district responsible for the massacre, alleging several missteps were made by school officials that put the students' lives in danger.
One of those school officials was the subject of Thursday's hearing, during which Mullins repeatedly argued that Fieger named the wrong dean of students in his lawsuit and as a result put the man's life in danger as he has received numerous death threats. He said Fieger knows this, but still refuses to remove the man's name from the lawsuit — so he's asking the court to order him to do so.
According to school officials, on the morning of the shooting, the dean of students was made aware of a drawing that the alleged shooter made in class. It included a gun, a person who had been shot and the words, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me."
That same dean of students and a counselor also met with the accused shooter's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, that morning, which is why they were both named in the lawsuit, Harrington said, noting the names of the dean and counselor have not been provided to the plaintiffs.
Harrington said that according to the school's website, course catalog and social media, the man they named in the lawsuit was listed as the dean of students at Oxford High School. But the school district says that man had nothing to do "whatsoever" with the shooting suspect or his parents, and hasn't worked at the high school in over a year.
Harrington said he would agree to remove the man's name from the lawsuit, but only if the the district provides the accurate name of the dean.
"Tell me who it is, and I'll dismiss (him)," Harrington said.
The district says it won't, citing the pending criminal investigation, so it's up to the judge to decide.
Judge Goldsmith said he would take the matter under advisement, but also recommended that a stay be requested as other sticking points have been raised in the lawsuit.
Among them is a fight over whether Fieger should have subpoena power to gain information from numerous entities, including the school district, Oakland County Sheriff's Office, Oakland County prosecutors and social media outfits.
Fieger is fighting for subpoena power to gain access to evidence held by investigators that he argues he's entitled to, including video surveillance from inside the school building of the shooting. To Fieger's chagrin, there's a protective order that is blocking his access to the evidence, so he's asking for the judge to intervene.
"We're the ones who are mainly in the dark," Harrington argued in court Thursday.
The school district's lawyer, however, has asked the judge to block the issuance of subpoenas, arguing the criminal investigation is a more pressing matter.
Fieger's lawsuit claims school officials ignored red flags about a student with troubling behavior and put others in harm's way by not doing enough to stop 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley from tearing through the hallways with a gun, as police say video evidence shows. Fieger is representing two sisters who attend Oxford High School: one was shot in the neck and survived, the younger sibling saw it happen.
Mullins argues that Fieger is prematurely asking for expedited information that he is not entitled to, and suggested having Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald tell the judge herself why her investigation needs to remain private.
Mullins also said that he plans to soon file a motion with the court in which he will argue the school defendants are covered by immunity. He has argued that the school district shouldn't have to turn any evidence over to Fieger until a judge first decides whether school officials are covered by immunity.
"Immunity will be an issue in this case," Mullins said in court Thursday.
But until that issue is raised and decided, Fieger's team is continuing to press for information, particularly the names of the people who met with Ethan Crumbley and his parents on the morning of the shooting.
"Oxford has released emails to the parents indicating a counselor and dean of students met with Crumbley," Harrington said. "We want to know who they are."
Ethan Crumbley, is facing terrorism and first-degree murder charges that could send him to prison for life if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed with no bond.
His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, who allegedly bought him the gun that was used in the killings, also have been charged in the case with involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors allege the Crumbley parents failed to get their depressed son help when he was spiraling out of control, but instead bought him a gun that he "desperately" wanted and failed to keep it properly stored.
The Crumbleys have maintained they are not responsible for the school shooting, that they kept the gun properly stored, and that they had no way of knowing their son would use it to open fire at school.
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