Larry Nassar seeking new Eaton County sentencing hearing
The lawyers for Larry Nassar, the 54-year-old disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician who has been accused of sexually assaulting more than 300 people, many of whom female gymnasts, under the guise of medical treatment for more than two decades, have filed for Nassar to be resentenced in Eaton County, Michigan.
This motion comes roughly two weeks after these layers, Malaika Ramsey-Heath and Jacqueline McCann, filed to have Nassar resentenced in Ingham County, Michigan after it was revealed that he was physically assaulted in prison within hours of his release into the general population of the prison where he is currently serving the first of the three lengthy prison sentences that he was issued between this past December and this past February.
Nassar's lawyers have now appealed all three of the prison sentences that he was issued during this two-month span.
Nassar was sentenced to between 40 and 125 years in state prison by Judge Janice Cunningham in Eaton County, Michigan this past February. He was issued this sentence on three sexual assault charges following a three-day sentencing hearing during which 65 victim impact statements were delivered in front of him in court by people who accused him of sexual assault.
Here is what Nassar's lawyers had to say in regard to why he should be resentenced in Eaton County and by someone other than Judge Cunningham, according to The Detroit News.
"Defendant recognizes that it is a high hurdle to obtain resentencing based on the emotional nature of a victim impact statement, but here the sentencing court was asked to impose the highest possible minimum term under the plea agreement not just based on the victims' and other speakers' emotional reaction to the sentencing offenses, but based on all sorts of factors beyond the individual circumstances of the offender and the offenses for which he was being sentenced.
"Numerous speakers during the victim impact statements did not limit themselves to explaining to the court the impact of the defendant's conduct on them but went on to call for change to the legal system, Michigan State University, the United States Gymnastics Association, the United States Olympic Committee and/or even the nation's culture, as well as to call for punishment for other uncharged entities and individuals. One speaker even expressed that: 'MSU should get the death penalty.'
"Due process of law requires that punishment be based on accurate information and individualized to the particular circumstances of the offense and the offender.
"The modem view of sentencing is that the sentence should be tailored to the particular circumstances of the case and the offender in an effort to balance both society's need for protection and its interest in maximizing the offender's rehabilitative potential. While the resources allocated for rehabilitation may be inadequate and some persons question whether rehabilitation can be achieved in the prison setting, this view of sentencing is the present policy of the state."
They added the following, according to the Lansing State Journal.
"Judge Cunningham having already been exposed to the improper factors can be reasonably expected to have substantial difficulty in putting these out of her mind. Re-assignment is advisable to preserve the appearance of justice, and the reassignment would not entail waste and duplication out of proportion to any gain in preserving the appearance of fairness."
The prison sentence that was issued to Nassar in Eaton County was the third overall prison sentence and second state prison sentence that he was issued. This past December, he was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Janet Neff. He was issued this prison sentence, which he is currently serving at United States Penitentiary, Tucson in Tucson, Arizona, on three child pornography charges.
Then in January, Nassar was issued his second prison sentence and his first state prison sentence. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced him to between 40 and 175 years in state prison in Ingham County, Michigan on seven sexual assault charges following a seven-day sentencing hearing during which 169 victim impact statements were delivered in front of him in court, including 156 that were read by those who accused him of sexual assault.
A hearing on the most recent motion filed by Nassar's lawyers is scheduled for Thursday, September 6 at 1:30 p.m. ET.