Former sports doctor Larry Nassar has exhausted what is likely his final appeal.
The Michigan Supreme Court denied his request for a new sentencing hearing in an order issued Friday.
The unsigned order upholds the lengthy sentence handed down by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemary Aqualina after the former MSU and USA Gymnastics sports doctor pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting gymnasts and other athletes under the guise of medical care.
Nassar’s legal team challenged the fairness of that proceeding based on comments from the bench, such as the judge saying she was signing his “death warrant.” The Supreme Court order said those comments were “concerning,” but that the sentence did fit into the terms of his plea deal.
The court also said resentencing would be unfair to the survivors of Nassar’s abuse. “For these reasons, we decline to expend additional judicial resources and further subject the victims in this case to additional trauma where the questions at hand present nothing more than an academic exercise.” the court wrote.
Nassar is currently serving a sentence in a federal prison following convictions on child pornography charges in a separate case.