Michigan appeals court agrees to look at Nassar sentencing

LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Court of Appeals has agreed to decide whether imprisoned former sports doctor Larry Nassar got an unfair hearing from an outspoken judge who sentenced him to at least 40 years in prison for sexually assaulting young gymnasts.

Lansing-area Judge Rosemarie Aquilina made many provocative remarks during Nassar’s sentencing earlier this year, saying at one point that she had signed his “death warrant.”

Aquilina recently was named Glamour Woman of the Year by Glamour magazine. And in July, Nassar’s victims honoured her during the ESPY awards. Hundreds of women and girls say Nassar molested them with his hands while working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.

The appeals court last week rejected an appeal in a 40-year sentence that a different judge ordered for Nassar.