Inform, Entertain, Inspire
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Former MSU president Lou Anna Simon’s preliminary hearing to continue in June

The policy changes would also limit relationships between graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate students, as well as teachers and graduate students.
John M. Quick
/
Flickr - http://j.mp/1SPGCl0
The policy changes would also limit relationships between graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate students, as well as teachers and graduate students.
Credit John M. Quick / Flickr - http://j.mp/1SPGCl0
/
Flickr - http://j.mp/1SPGCl0

Former Michigan State University president Lou Anna Simon has some time off from court. Simon has been charged with multiple felonies. A hearing to determine if she should stand trial will continue in June.

The state Attorney General’s office says Lou Anna Simon lied about what she knew about a 2014 complaint against former MSU sports doctor Larry Nassar. A judge sentenced Nassar to at least 40 years in prison for sexually assaulting his patients.

During the fourth day of the preliminary exam on Tuesday, Paulette Granberry Russell testified. She was the Title IX director at the time of the 2014 complaint. Throughout the hearing, Granberry Russell said she could not remember if she told Simon about Nassar

“I don’t have any independent recollection of talking specifically about Larry Nassar,” she said..

Lee Silver is one of Simon’s attorneys. He said Simon did not know that Nassar was the subject of the complaint. 

“You tell me what you think given that after four days not a single witness has said they mentioned Nassar’s name to Lou Anna Simon and there’s not a single witness has said they mentioned Nassar’s name on it and there’s not a single document that she received that has Nassar’s name on it,” he said.

The prosecutor disagrees. Scott Teter says Simon lied in order to protect the school and herself. 

Copyright 2019 Michigan Radio

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R