Victim's Dad lunges at Nassar in Court
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
...where her only options were 1) call all of the victims attention seeking liars or 2) admit that he commited each and every act and that she only defended his disgusting heinous ass, because she had to.
There seems to be a lot of very professional, very tactful in-between area there, where she could avoid victim shaming these girls and still maintain her reputation as a good defense attorney.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^
should not have given the interview, or simply refused to comment on her own opinion of the case. That being said, it is very hard for a defense attorney to do their job without becomming fully invested in the defense. It is very, very difficult to believably argue a position if you don't believe in the position. That is why successful defense attorneys never ask a client if they are guilty even though it would be covered under attorney-client privilege even if the answer was yes. A defense attorney has to create an alternate narrative in their mind and become completely convinced of that narrative.
Like, Johnnie Cochran was not acting when he convinced the OJ jury of a frameup. He was not putting them on. He 100% believed what he was saying and likely did until the day he died. And that is exactly why he presented it so well. To him, what he was saying was the truth.
Criminal defense is a really tough job, and it is not for everybody, but somebody has to do it.
(EDIT - this was supposed to be a response to Go Blue _ SEMPER FI. I am not sure why it was posted as a response to you).
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^
She's a defense attorney. She's in the extremely unenviable position of having to defend a man who has massive amounts of evidence and witnesses stacked against him, but it is still her job to defend him. Part of the job description. Even if she deep down believes every word that these women said, she can't admit that. It is her job to stand up for Nassar and represent him to the best of her ability.
Also, while I'm no lawyer, I have to imagine that if she starts walking around saying "yeah I believe he assaulted every one of these girls and every word that comes out of their mouths is true," it damages her reputation as a defense attorney. What future defendant would ever want to be represented by her if she started publicly supporting the statements of the prosecutors?
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Can any MGoDocs answer the part about "there is legitimate medical treatment that involves....even penetrations". Is that really true? I know it's true in some situations, but I mean within the context of gymnastics and the types of injuries resulting from that activity.
I have 2 young daughters in gymnastics. If what Nassar's attorney said is true how would I, or my girls, know the point at which the Dr. is crossing the line between legitmate treatment and rape?
I'm not trying to say this about the Nassar situation, I'm asking so if my girls get hurt I can know the difference and help them know the difference.
If those kinds of procedures are medically legitimate in some gymnastic injury situations, maybe they should be performed by women when the injured person is female...? Not saying that would preclude all possibility of rape, but maybe reduce the chances of it.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
went down this rabbit hole already ....
There is some PT method that is often used I guess but almost always on by female doctors and with multiple witnesses etc.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
His anger is understandable. I would want to do the same if something happened to one of my kids. I'd sit in jail for a few days/weeks/months if it meant getting a clean shot at a serial child molester.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^
could get to that scumbag. I wish he would have gotten to him.
I have no idea what that would feel like, but the just thinking about my child being abused makes me seeth in anger. Just so sad this happened and all those jackasses in EL did nothing for years.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:05 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
I to can't imagine being a 14 year old girl, let alone one that had been molested by a medical professional. While it's not the same level of victimization obviously, the parents are victims in this situation also.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
Just curious as I have no idea on this, but what kind of charges could they possibly hit the father with? Contempt? Is that basically just a fine?
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:48 AM ^
with something. Can't set the precedent that his behavior is fine.
February 2nd, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^
Given the vast majority of comments on this thread, seems you might have wanted to throw in the words "jury nullification" rather than "will" and "should be."
February 2nd, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 6:14 PM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^
probably attempted murder
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
and with some district judges, much like with the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act for under-21's, the defendant could have his sentence delayed or diverted such that if the guy keeps a clean record for a year, the charge will be dropped. He can avoind a criminal conviction on his record that way.
He'd likely be required to complete several hours' of anger management counseling that is court-supervised, submit for drug testing, and obey a personal protection order barring him from any sort of contact with anybody involved in the Nassar case. He might be barred from any firearm possession, and he'll be required to report to the court any contact with police of any kind during the 12 months.
Eaton County (this was the Eaton sentencing, right?) does some of that in their District Court.
EDIT: This story came up in a room of lawyers I was in this afternoon. About 90 years’ of collective trial experience among the group. Every one of us expected there to be charges. Not one of us thought the judge could allow that kind of a disturbance and outburst to be tolerated under the circumstances. We all seem to have been wrong. None of us had ever faced election as a judge.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
That's hard to watch.
I'm actually kind of surprised it's taken this long for ANY loved one to try and attack him in the court room.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
At worst, cite him for littering. That was good enough for Travis Walton.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:27 AM ^
Is he facing additional charges? I thought his trial was finished.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
His big trial was in Ingham County last week. This is in Eaton County. I think there are like 7 more victims in Eaton County. It's my understanding this is his last case and just a matter of how many more theoretical years they will tack on.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
I can't say I blame him for his reaction. It's our job to protect our children, and when you see the scum of the Earth sitting in front of you, a man who sexually violated your own daughter, and who isn't even worth the chair he's sitting on, that can be all it takes to make a father snap. You're not even thinking about the consequences of being led out of a courtroom in handcuffs. You're not even thinking about your own reputation.
All you're thinking about is you love your daughter more than anything else, and that anyone who touches her wrong deserves nothing less than to be beaten into a coma. It's your basic instincts kicking in. The police did the right thing by restraining him and leading him out of the courtroom in handcuffs, as they had a job to do. Otherwise we descend into anarchy.
But I'm sure at least part of them wanted to let him go and beat Nassar half to death.
February 2nd, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
He shouldn't have said a word, just went right at Nassar. Might have gotten a couple in.
I think maybe Aquilina's comments along the lines of "if cruel and unusual punishment were allowed I'd let a lot of people abuse you[Nassar]" were what made this man think he could even ask that question in a court.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
Dont mess with Electricians!
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
and yet somehow all of the women--the primary victims--managed to take down Naasar without physically attacking him. And given what has transpired over the past 3 weeks, that seems to have worked spectacularly.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
In these types of cases, extra vigilance is needed by the court to discourage this type of behavior from happening.
Back in the late 1980's, I personally witnessed a similar incident. I was clerking for a judge in Wayne Circuit Court, and we were temprorarily assigned to Frank Murphy Hall of Justice for a criminal call. One of our fellow judges had a high profile rape case, and the defendant was found guilty at trial and being sentenced that day. At the time of the victim impact statement, the 16 year old girl was still too distraught to come to court so the judge allowed her father to speak on her behalf.
At that time, the witness podium that the father spoke from was literally about 24 inches from where the defendant sat with his attorney. The attorney was on the other side of the defendant, so the father and the defendant were literally within inches of each other. The father started out by saying what a scumbag the defendant was, how he hated him for stealing his daugher's innocence, etc. Then all of a sudden he pulled out a gun from his pocket and blew the defendant's brains out with a bullet to his head. The dad immediately dropped the gun, put his hands in the air, and said "Go ahead, arrest me". (This was in the early days of metal detectors, still don't know how he got the gun into court). If I remember correctly, the dad was charged and convicted of 2nd degree murder.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^
You are right - he did not go to prison. 5 years probation and 300 hours community service.
http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/8486252/a-father-justice
The video in the link is stunning in itself --- that's about as clean as a "kill shot" as you can get. There's more raw video of it out there, very graphic.
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 12:31 PM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
February 2nd, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
First truthful thing that's ever been on that site. Good for the dad.
February 2nd, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^
If he would have asked for 3-9 seconds, think it would have been granted?