I haven't been following this case closely, but I've watched some clips on YouTube. What jumped out at me was how Hollywood it seemed, due entirely to Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who strikes me as a narcissist. Nassar complained that Aquilina wanted him to hear victim statements from the witness stand so that the cameras would catch sight of her. She strikes me as using these victims for some gain, like maybe a TV show.

I was searching for people who agree with that impression of her and came across this conversation: https://michiganstate.247sports.com/Board/93/Contents/Judge-Rosemarieblah-blah-blah-edit-Ive-been-fully-scolded-114149880?Page=3#M114158237

I'll say this: That letter that Nassar wrote isn't completely off base. Ill advised and dumb? Definitely and he walked into the lion's cage with that one and opened the door to Aquilina skewering him for it. Also, be very wary of someone like the judge who decides to share parts of the letter taken out of context in open court, but at the same time denies the media and defense counsel's request for the whole letter to be released so we can see it in its entirety.

But his comments about the victims and his own culpability aside, his assessment of the judge, the prosecutors, the federal case, and the media is not off base. What he did was horrible. And he deserves everything that he has coming to him. But to think that others haven't used this to their advantage is naive.

First, the federal case. He was sentenced to 60 years for possession of child porn. 60 years. Think about that. There was no evidence he participated in making it or that he shared it to websites or was a member of one. By way of comparison, Jared Fogle (subway Jared) pled in federal court to possessing child pornography and an additional charge of traveling to pay for sex with minors. He got 15 years, 8 months with a minimum of 13 years. Nassar got 60 years. The guidelines called for 22-27 years.

As to the prosecutors, they wouldn't let him plea "no contest." They had to get him to say "guilty" and had to get him to admit that it wasn't medical or the deal was off the table. They (and the judge) also required that he be present for ALL alleged victims to give impact statements. Not just the 7 or so he pled to. True that there is caselaw allowing it, but they wanted to make sure that it was in his plea so they could get their chance to present the victims in their light and unchallenged. There's a little grandstanding there by them. And, of course, Schuette is running for governor and is not one to let a good tragedy go to waste.

Judge Aquilina was clearly grandstanding. He wasn't wrong when he noted that she wanted him to sit in the witness stand so that the cameras would catch her in the background. He correctly noted her using this for her own publicity. But he was most definitely the wrong person to deliver that message.

Incidentally my Jєωdar goes off a bit with both Nassar and Aquilina.