Judge dismisses Nassar-related charges against former Michigan State president
LANSING, Mich. – A judge dismissed criminal charges Wednesday against former Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon arising from the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal.
Simon was charged with lying to police about her knowledge of a 2014 sexual assault complaint against Nassar, a former MSU sports medicine doctor who sexually abused young women and girls for decades under the guise of medical treatment.
But Eaton County Judge John Maurer dismissed the case.
Maurer's ruling came five days after Simon's attorneys and state prosecutors argued in court over a motion to dismiss.
“The prosecution did not provide evidence sufficient to give a reasonable person probable cause to believe that Dr. Simon knew during her 2018 interview that her purported knowledge in 2014 of Dr. Nassar's name and the ‘nature’ and ‘substance’ of the complaint against him” were relevant to the 2018 investigation, the judge said.
Lee Silver, one of Simon's attorneys, said his firm and client are "extremely pleased" with the decision, which "confirms that the charges against Lou Anna Simon should never have been brought."
"The Court’s ruling completely vindicates Dr. Simon and confirms what we have been saying from the day these charges were brought, namely, that there was not a shred of credible evidence to support these charges," Silver said in a statement.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said Wednesday afternoon the opinion is lengthy and her office is still reviewing it.
Nessel said while her predecessor, Bill Schuette, filed the charges, she fully agreed with them. She described the charges as "solid."
"Lou Anna Simon's actions were unethical and illegal," she said.
Nessel said her office likely will appeal, although a final decision has not been made.
Judge ordered to trial in October
Simon faced four charges — two felonies and two misdemeanors — of lying to police.
Prosecutors said she lied during a 2018 police interview about her knowledge of Nassar’s conduct while he was a sports medicine doctor at MSU.
Simon has maintained she didn’t learn about the nature of a complaint against him until a 2016 Indianapolis Star story.
Hundreds of women and girls, mostly gymnasts, said Nassar molested them with his hands during visits for hip, back and leg injuries. Besides working at Michigan State, Nassar was team doctor at USA Gymnastics, based in Indianapolis, which trains Olympians. Those elite athletes, too, said they were victims.
Investigators said she learned about accusations against Nassar during the 2014 investigation of alumna Amanda Thomashow’s sexual assault complaint.
Thomashow, who was then a recent MSU graduate, told the university that during an appointment, Nassar cupped her buttocks, sent a female resident out of the examination room then massaged her breast and vaginal area, only stopping when she physically removed his hands.
A university investigation of Thomashow's complaint found Nassar did not violate policy. An MSU police detective investigated and sent the case to the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office, which declined to charge Nassar.
Eaton County District Court Judge Julie Reincke ordered Simon to stand trial in October, writing that testimony during a lengthy preliminary examination showed the sexual assault allegations against Nassar "aroused serious, very significant concern."
Her ruling came after a lengthy preliminary hearing that took multiple days over the span of several months.
Simon's attorneys asked Maurer to reverse that decision and dismiss all four charges in January.
They argued Reincke was not objective and ignored "absence of evidence" of the elements of the charge and "numerous" issues with witness testimony.
They also described the prosecution's arguments as an attempt to "spin a golden case from an evidentiary bale of straw."
Other former employees have served or face jail time
Two other former MSU employees have been convicted of charges related to the university's handling of Nassar.
William Strampel, who was dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and one of Nassar's bosses, was convicted in June 2019 of misconduct in office related to his own treatment of women and willful neglect of duty for failing to properly supervise Nassar in the wake of the 2014 complaint.
He was released from jail March 19 after serving nearly eight months for his conviction on the felony and two misdemeanors.
He's appealing his felony conviction of misconduct in office, arguing in a brief filed earlier this year that his position as dean didn't meet the legal definition of a public official.
Former MSU gymnastics coach Kathie Klages was convicted earlier this year of lying to police about a 1997 complaint against Nassar.
Prosecutors convinced a jury that Klages lied during a June 21, 2018 interview with Michigan Attorney General's Office special agents.
During that interview, Klages said she didn't remember two gymnasts telling her in 1997 that Nassar, a former MSU sports medicine doctor who abused hundreds of girls and young women under the guise of medical treatment, had sexually abused them.
Those gymnasts were 14 and 16 at the time and participating in the Spartan Youth gymnastics program, which Klages oversaw.
Klages was set for a sentencing hearing last month, but that has been delayed amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Attorneys hope ruling will reset focus
Simon stepped down as president on Jan. 24, 2018, as the university faced sharp criticism for its handling of complaints against Nassar.
Her resignation came the same day Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Nassar, who had worked in MSU's sports medicine clinic, to 40 to 175 years for multiple sex crimes. Nassar remains in federal custody serving a 60-year sentence on child pornography charges that developed during the sexual assault investigations.
At the time she resigned the presidency, Simon kept a tenured professorship in the College of Education. She took a leave of absence after being charged and retired from MSU effective Aug. 31, while Reincke was still considering legal arguments about whether to forward her case to Circuit Court for trial.
Silver said while the ruling exonerates Simon amid her retirement, it does not exonerate Nassar "or his horrific conduct."
"We are hopeful that today’s dismissal will restore focus and resources onto meaningful and ongoing support of his survivors and the other victims of sexual assault," Silver added in his statement
Contributing: Kara Berg, Lansing State Journal; Associated Press
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