The Ingham County Judge who sentenced Larry Nassar had to defend her sentencing of Larry Nassar in court today. Above you will find the Facebook Live that Fox 47 News shared.
She was accused of a laundry list of accusations by Nassar's lawyer from profiting from the case to being biased.
She said she was not being biased. She listed how counts against him and the number of victims equaled the time of the sentencing. She also pointed out that Nassar agreed three times to the sentencing.
After the sentencing, Judge Aquilina had to trademark her name out of her own money. She said, "I'm not going to profit from this case, but others should." She wants to start a foundation with the money from any sales of items using her images to support all survivors. Nassar's attorney accused the judge of profiting from the sale of her image. Aquilina had to defend that there was a shirt made with her face on it but she was not the one that started the trend of others using her image to make money, instead she stated that Michigan native Natalie Portman was the one starting this effort. However, this was why she eventually trademarked her name.
As far as talking to the media, she showed a large notebook, a three-ring binder, with hundreds of media requests that she has turned down. She continued stating that she would continue to refuse these requests.
When asked about a book that she wrote based on the trail, she said that she's always been a writer and this wouldn't be her first book. Two other fiction books that she wrote in the past included Feel no Evil and Triple Cross Killer.
She had to defend her decision to have Nassar sit next to her during the sentencing. She said it was for his safety, not for the media's purpose.
She defended her decision throughout the hearing, and even said, "I believe everyone deserves a good defense."
She said she delivered a "fair and impartial justice on both sides." She claimed that in the end for the sentencing she did the math. "I took 40 years multipled this by 365 days and divided the number by the 156 victims. This equated to 93.5 days per victim which is the same amount of time that a domestic violence offender gets."
When told she didn't do enough because Nassar is getting beaten in prison - she said that he is serving his federal sentence and that the defense attorney should talk to the judge for the federal case because her harsh words used in that sentencing may be impacting what's happening there.
She closed by reminding the court that he plead guilty. "He's saying he wants a redo of the sentencing," she said. "He's experiencing buyer's remorse. He's really seeking a reduction in time, He's seeking groundhog day and a do-over." She added that he's using his attorney's voice to get that. She said that she wasn't biased, the process wasn't biased either. As she stated, "Bias no, Justice Yes."
She also pointed out that there has been plenty of negative publicity and people lashing out at her for sentencing Nassar for 40 years. She asked the attorney for Nassar why she didn't highlight those things.
In the end of the court hearing today, Judge Aquilina denied the request to recuse herself and stated that "I am happy to learn from the court of Appeals or the Supreme Court." She also stated that she "will retain and make any adjustments if needed in the future if the case comes back."
Lawyers for Larry Nassar requested that with Aquilina's denial that the complaint be sent to the Chief Judge for review and Aquilina stated that she will pass this onto the Chief Judge.
Continue to watch Fox 47 News for updates.
