Judge Rosemarie Aquilina denies request to disqualify herself from Larry Nassar case

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has denied a request to remove herself from the hearing motion challenging her sentencing of Larry Nassar that was filed by Nassar's new attorneys, Jacqueline McCann and Malaika Ramsey-Heath. She will not disqualify her from the case if higher courts send it back to fix any errors.

The attorneys of Nassar, the 54-year-old disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician who has been accused of sexually assaulting more than 300 people, many of whom female gymnasts, under the guise of medical treatment for more than two decades, recently filed this motion to have Nassar resentenced by a different judge in Ingham County, Michigan.

They believe that Judge Aquilina's rhetoric, including remarks that Nassar is "monster" who she would allow someone "to do to him what he did to others" and that he is "going to wither" like the wicked witch in "The Wizard of Oz", "demonized" Nassar and are the reason that he was recently physically assaulted in prison.

Here is what Judge Aquilina had to say about why she will not disqualify herself, according to ESPN.

"I have not crossed any boundaries. ... Bias? No. Justice? Yes."

She added the following, according to the Lansing State Journal.

"There's nothing that I have done that prejudices me on this case. Should this case come back to me I will retain it and correct any error I have made."

Here is what Ramsey-Heath had to say about the matter, according to ESPN.

"The appearance of impropriety has been broken at this point."

She added the following, according to the Lansing State Journal.

"I understand the prosecutor's argument that they are signs or words of support. But the truth is, when it comes to sentencing, they are an integral part of that equation. And they are an integral part of this court's consideration.

"And when this court has gone so far so often to express such high levels of support and on the other hand, a disdain for Dr. Nassar, deserved or not in the eyes of this court, that is what has been put out to the public at this point."

Judge Aquilina sentenced Nassar to between 40 and 175 years in state prison on seven sexual assault charges in January. She did so following a seven-day sentencing hearing in Ingham County, Michigan during which 169 victim impact statements were delivered in front of Nassar, with 156 of them being read by people who Nassar sexually assaulted and the other 13 being read on behalf of people of Nassar sexually assaulted.

The prison sentence issued by Judge Aquilina to Nassar was the second prison sentence that he was issued, as he was issued a 60-year federal prison sentence on three child pornography charges this past December by U.S. District Judge Janet Neff.

He is currently serving this federal prison sentence, and he is doing so at United States Penitentiary, Tucson in Tucson, Arizona, a maximum-security federal prison that offers a sex offender program. It was at this prison where he was physically assaulted.

In February, Nassar was issued a third prison sentence. This prison sentence was the second state prison sentence that he was issued. Judge Janice Cunningham sentenced him to between an additional 40 and 125 years in state prison on three sexual assault charges following a three-day sentencing hearing in Eaton County, Michigan during which 65 victim impact statements were delivered in front of Nassar.

In June, Nassar was charged with six counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child stemming from the Károlyi Ranch investigation, but no prison time has been issued to him as a result of these new charges.