(CBS DETROIT) – Former federal prosecutor Rick Convertino says nothing will stop Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel from conducting an independent investigation into the Oxford High School shooting.
On Monday, say the victims’ parents that’s exactly what the Nessell have repeatedly told them.
“The Attorney General of the State of Michigan has unequivocal authority to conduct an independent investigation into the Crumbley shooting at Oxford High School,” Convertino said.
In response to Monday’s news conference, Nessel said the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office declined any assistance from Nessel’s office.
“My office has always respected local authority, and we never use our jurisdiction to replace criminal investigations at the local or state level,” Nessel said. “Once a case has been reviewed by local law enforcement, my department will only participate or take the lead in a criminal investigation or prosecution after local authorities have provided a referral and asked us to do so. To this day, I want to be clear make: Neither the Oakland County Sheriff nor the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office has ever asked us to take over any part of the criminal investigation into what happened in Oxford.
McDonald said she was not aware “of any action required by my office to activate the authority of the Attorney General, but we will do everything possible to facilitate such an investigation. And my office will fully cooperate with any such investigation.”
“She is the head of the state law enforcement agency,” Convertino told CBS News Detroit. “I’m not sure what her motivation might be. But the infighting between these offices is absolutely ridiculous. It’s obscene.’
Ultimately, Convertino believes the families deserve the investigation, and the country deserves the outcome, to ensure tragedies like Oxford High School never happen again.
“Everyone in the community deserves it,” he said. “Let’s put this little nonsense aside and get to work.”
