The Michigan Court of Appeals is allowing a case filed by the family of a murdered Oxford High School student to move forward.

The family of Hana St. Juliana alleges the Michigan State Police failed to fulfill a legal obligation to act on information that could have averted the 2021 mass shooting.

The case never made it to the argument stage in the Michigan Court of Claims. The judge ruled the family missed the deadline to notify the state of its plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit within six months of the shooting.

But, in a unanimous opinion released Friday, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel reversed that decision. The court said that clock did not start until a probate judge named St. Juliana’s father as the personal representative of her estate.

“The state of Michigan attempted to use a technicality to deprive our clients of their day in court and we are pleased that the Court of Appeals saw past that and is going to allow this case to proceed,” said Kevin Carlson, the attorney for the St. Juliana family.

The complaint outlines reports of concerning behavior by the shooter that were submitted to the Michigan OK2Say tipline, which serves as a central location to report crimes, threats and concerns regarding schools and students. It says the Michigan State Police failed to live up to its responsibilities to investigate reports submitted through that system. It also says a school official and an Oakland County deputy sheriff dismissed the concerns.

Carlson said the 2013 law that set up OK2Say puts the final legal responsibility to check on those tips with the state.

“The question in this case, and the focal point of this lawsuit, is going to be why did the Michigan State Police not intervene to prevent the shooting at Oxford High School?” he  told Michigan Public Radio.

The Michigan State Police did not respond to a message seeking comment. The state could appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.

St. Juliana and three classmates were killed in the November 30, 2021, mass shooting. Seven others were injured.

Carlson said unless the state appeals, his next step is to seek unredacted versions of police reports related to the shooting. 

The Oxford High School shooter has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to order a new hearing before a judge to reduce his sentence of life with no chance of parole.

The shooter’s new legal team says his previous counsel failed to take crucial steps to protect his interests before the then-16-year-old pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder, terrorism, assault, and firearm violations. Four students were killed and seven people were injured in the mass shooting.

The shooter’s new lawyers from the State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) argue that at a minimum a new judge should hear expert testimony on fetal alcohol syndrome, a troubled home life and other mitigating factors before imposing a new sentence.

“Though his offense is heinous, how our courts treat even those who have committed the most heinous crimes matters deeply,” said the brief arguing for the Supreme Court to hear Ethan Crumbley’s case. “The tragic nature of Ethan’s crime cannot give courts an excuse to overlook errors that occurred in his legal proceedings. The circuit court did more than overlook these errors. It blithely and repeatedly found that nothing could or would make a difference in the sentence imposed – death in prison, for someone 15 years old at the time of their offense.”

SADO attorney Jacqueline Ouvry said this appeal is not about relitigating the convictions, but requiring the court to consider “mitigating factors” that should have been part of the sentencing decision. Ouvry said that would align with court precedents that require unique considerations for younger defendants, even those charged as adults with violent offenses.

“They involve chronological age, which includes brain development,” she told Michigan Public Radio. “They involve the family and home environment a child grew up in, and the possibility of rehabilitation.”

“Ethan was 15 when he committed his offense,” she said. “He was very much a youth at the time.”

Ouvry said the case is also relevant because there are other defendants convicted as teens or young adults in state custody who are entitled to new sentences under court rulings.

“It matters how we sentence those who have done even the most heinous crimes and there are several hundred people in Michigan who because of recent court decisions will be resentenced for heinous crimes,” she said.

The Michigan Court of Appeals declined to reconsider the sentence in May, and a spokesperson for Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald’s office said the Supreme Court should let that be the final word.

“The facts are undisputed: On November 30, 2021, the shooter murdered Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, and Justin Shilling, wounded seven others, and terrorized an entire community,” said Public Information Officer Jeff Wattrick in an email to Michigan Public Radio. “We are confident the Supreme Court will concur with the lower courts and uphold his sentence.”

The shooter’s parents are serving prison terms for manslaughter convictions. They were charged with failing to act on signs their son’s mental condition was deteriorating and for failing to secure the semi-automatic firearm used in the shootings.

The Michigan Supreme Court refused to dismiss the charges in a 2023 decision that was the first time that allowed for parents to be held criminally liable for a school shooter’s actions.