Lawyers for Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor accused of molesting dozens of athletes, are asking that his trial be moved away from Lansing.
According to the Lansing State Journal, Nassar’s attorneys don’t believe their client will be able to get a fair trial so close to MSU’s campus. Citing “inflammatory and sustained media coverage,” the lawyers are hoping Nassar might get a better shot elsewhere.
“It is difficult to conceive of a case that has generated more widespread, inflammatory and sustained media coverage than the case against Larry Nassar,” read the motion for change of venue. “Local media outlets have published between 160-200 stories involving Defendant Nassar and that number has rapidly increased over the past few days.”
That, according to the LSJ, is likely a reference to the latest high-profile allegation being held against Nassar.
On Wednesday, former Olympic gymnastics gold medalist McKayla Maroney posted on Twitter saying that she’d been repeatedly assaulted by Nassar. Maroney wrote that he’d begun targeting her when she was 13.
The Olympian made her post using the #MeToo hashtag, which is being used by men and women to identify themselves as victims of sexual assault or harassment.
Nassar currently faces two dozen criminal sexual conduct charges, which the LSJ reports are spread between Ingham and Eaton counties in Michigan.
So far, Nassar has steadfastly denied the allegations of molestation stacked against, both within the courtroom and out.
However, the doctor did plead guilty for possession of child pornography, which was found in computer equipment that had been discarded in a garbage bin.
Nassar has been accused of committing crimes across the country, with many taking place at medical facilities and a local gym, as well as his own home.
As of September, over 140 women from around the United States have come forward saying they were abused by Nassar in one way or another. Some of his victims claim that they were assaulted repeatedly, over the course of days, months, or even years.
Many of the allegations center around Nassar’s use of a strange technique he employed during physical examinations, during which he purportedly digitally penetrated his wards under the guise of transvaginal treatments. He has also been accused of exposing himself in games of “hide and seek.”
Michigan State University has come under fire for its expensive legal defensive of Nassar, which has cost the institution upward of $2.5 million.
The university was sued alongside Nassar by a number of women when the case first broke.
Sources
Larry Nassar’s attorneys seek to move his trial, delay its start
Lawyers want gymnastics doctor sex assault case moved
Michigan State’s legal costs related to Nassar now measured in millions
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