DETROIT ( Associated Press) – The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday rejected the final appeal of sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting gymnasts, including Olympic medalists.
Nassar’s lawyers argued that his client was treated unfairly in 2018 and deserved a rehearsal based on vengeful comments from a judge who called him a “monster” who was rogue in “The Wizard of Oz.” Will “dry up” in prison like a witch.
“I just signed his death warrant,” Ingham County Judge Rosemary Aquilina said of Nassar’s 40-year sentence.
The state Supreme Court said Nassar’s appeal was a “closed question” and that it had “concerns” about the judge’s conduct. But the court also noted that Aquilina, despite her provocative remarks, stuck to the sentencing agreement reached by lawyers in the case.
“We refuse to expend additional judicial resources and subject victims to additional trauma in a case where the issues are no more than an academic exercise,” the court said in the two-page order.
More than 150 victims spoke or testified during a seven-day extraordinary hearing at Aquilina court more than four years ago.
“It’s all over. … Almost six years after the police report was filed, it’s finally over,” Rachel Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar, said on Twitter Friday.
Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting gymnasts and other athletes with his hands under the guise of medical treatment for hip and leg injuries. She worked at Michigan State University and Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics and traveled the world with the sport’s elite.
“Our Constitution does not allow cruel and unusual punishment,” Aquilina told Nassar. “If he did, I must say, he could have allowed all these beautiful souls, all these young women to do what they did in childhood. He would let someone or many people do to him what he did to others.” did with.”
Nassar later received another 40 years in prison in a separate case in a neighboring county.
