The Kathie Klages case ended without a conviction on the books. The former Michigan State University women’s gymnastics coach was found guilty in February 2020 of lying to investigators about what she knew of Larry Nassar’s abuse, but the Michigan Court of Appeals vacated both counts in December 2021, and the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review that decision in September 2022. The charges were dismissed, and her convictions were permanently erased.
What Klages Was Accused of Knowing
The prosecution’s case turned on two conversations in 1997. Larissa Boyce, then 16, testified that she told Klages that Nassar had sexually assaulted her. Klages defended Nassar, said she had known him for years and that “there’s no way he would do anything inappropriate,” then held up a piece of paper and warned Boyce there would be “very serious consequences” for both Boyce and Nassar if she pursued it.1CNN. Kathie Klages Trial Boyce testified that the experience ended her gymnastics career. A second gymnast, 14 at the time and identified in court records as “RF,” gave similar testimony about reporting Nassar to Klages that same year.2Michigan Court of Appeals. People v. Klages, No. 354487 Both said Klages brought other gymnasts in to dissuade them, leaving them feeling “embarrassed, humiliated and like they were doing something wrong.”3Lansing State Journal. Kathie Klages Trial Coverage
Nearly twenty years later, in September 2016, after the Indianapolis Star reported on Nassar, Klages again defended him. Gymnast Lindsey Lemke said Klages wept in a team meeting, told athletes she would “trust her own grandkids with him,” and asked team members to sign a card for Nassar.4NBC News. MSU Abuse Scandal: Coach Had Gymnasts Sign Card for Nassar MSU athletic director Mark Hollis suspended Klages with pay on February 13, 2017, and she announced her retirement the next day, closing a 27-year tenure as head coach.5NBC News. MSU Gymnastics Coach Kathie Klages Steps Down Amid Scandal
The Criminal Charges
In August 2018, the Michigan Attorney General’s office charged Klages with two counts of lying to a peace officer under MCL 750.479c(1)(b), filed in Ingham County Circuit Court (Case No. 18-000825-FH). Prosecutors alleged that during a 2018 interview with Attorney General investigator David Dwyre, Klages denied that any gymnast had ever told her Nassar had sexually assaulted her.2Michigan Court of Appeals. People v. Klages, No. 354487
One count was tied to an investigation of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and was a felony carrying up to four years in prison. The other, tied to an investigation of misconduct in office, was a misdemeanor carrying up to two years.1CNN. Kathie Klages Trial
Trial and Conviction
Klages went to trial in February 2020 in Ingham County Circuit Court before Judge Joyce Draganchuk. Boyce and RF were the prosecution’s central witnesses. Dwyre testified that the Attorney General’s investigation had included more than 1,000 witness interviews, multiple search warrants at MSU, and extensive digital forensics, and that investigators had found no evidence Klages ever told anyone about the 1997 disclosures.2Michigan Court of Appeals. People v. Klages, No. 354487
Klages’s defense argued she genuinely did not remember the 1997 conversations, even if they had happened, and noted that she had continued sending her own children and grandchild to Nassar for treatment after 1997.3Lansing State Journal. Kathie Klages Trial Coverage On February 14, 2020, the jury convicted her on both counts.6Michigan Public. Appeals Court Overturns Kathie Klages Conviction
Sentence and Time Served
Judge Draganchuk sentenced Klages on August 4, 2020, to 90 days in jail, 18 months of probation, 90 days of home confinement after release, 200 hours of community service, and fines totaling more than $1,300, with credit for one day served.7WKAR. Klages Sentenced to 90 Days in Jail, 18 Months Probation
At sentencing, Klages told the court, “I want you to know that I truly do not remember,” adding, “I struggle with what I’ve been accused of and what my role in this tragedy may have been.” She also apologized: “I’m so sorry if I had anything to do with this.”8Lansing State Journal. Former MSU Coach Klages to Serve 89 Days in Jail Boyce addressed the court and said she had “prayed and hoped that Kathie would own up to her mistake of believing a pedophile over two children 23 years ago, but that did not happen.” Judge Draganchuk said the emotional harm to victims was “far greater and far more serious than the thwarting of a police investigation.” Klages served 50 days in jail before being released.9Detroit News. Michigan Court of Appeals Ruling on Simon and Klages
Why the Court of Appeals Threw Out the Convictions
On December 21, 2021, a divided panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals vacated both convictions in a 2-1 decision (Case No. 354487) and ordered the charges dismissed. The majority held that the prosecution had failed to prove a required element of the offense: that Klages’s false statements were “material” to the criminal investigation.2Michigan Court of Appeals. People v. Klages, No. 354487
The court adopted the federal materiality standard from United States v. Gaudin (1995), defining a material statement as one with “a natural tendency to influence, or capable of influencing, the decision of the decisionmaking body to which it was addressed.” Under that standard, the panel concluded that Klages’s denials had no meaningful impact on the Attorney General’s investigation. Investigators had already interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, obtained extensive MSU records, and executed search warrants, and the lead investigator himself did not believe her denials when she made them. The lies never actually misled or misdirected the investigation. The court called the statements “inconsequential, rather than material.”10FindLaw. People v. Klages
Dwyre’s testimony that Klages’s honesty “would have changed the direction of my questioning” was dismissed as “conjecture and supposition.”2Michigan Court of Appeals. People v. Klages, No. 354487 The dissenting judge argued the majority’s reading was too narrow and that the statute was meant to enforce candor during the investigative stage, not only when a lie affects a final charging decision. Defense attorney Mary Chartier said, “It has been a long battle, but Mrs. Klages has finally been vindicated.”11CBS News Detroit. Former MSU Gymnastics Coach Kathie Klages Wins Appeal
The Michigan Supreme Court Ended the Case
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office filed an application for leave to appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court on February 14, 2022, arguing that the Court of Appeals had misinterpreted the materiality requirement by demanding proof that the lie influenced a charging decision rather than proof that it could hinder an investigation.12Michigan Attorney General. People v. Klages – MSC Application for Leave to Appeal
On September 21, 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court denied the application in a one-sentence order (Docket No. 164076), stating it was “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.”13Michigan Supreme Court. People v. Klages, No. 164076 – Order That ended the prosecution. Klages’s convictions were permanently vacated and the charges dismissed.
How Klages’s Case Compared to Other MSU Prosecutions
Klages was one of three senior MSU figures criminally charged in connection with Nassar. The outcomes followed a similar arc for two of them.
Lou Anna K. Simon, MSU’s former president, was charged with four counts of lying to a peace officer for allegedly misleading investigators about a 2014 Title IX investigation into Nassar. A circuit court judge dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence, and the Court of Appeals unanimously upheld that dismissal on the same day it overturned Klages’s conviction. One judge on the panel described the prosecution of Simon as targeting a “high-profile target, selected to assuage public anger.” The Attorney General’s office did not appeal.14Detroit News. Michigan Court of Appeals Ruling on Simon Charges
William Strampel, former dean of MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, was convicted in June 2019 of misconduct in office and two counts of willful neglect of duty for failing to monitor Nassar’s clinical practices. He was acquitted of a more serious criminal sexual conduct charge. Judge Draganchuk sentenced him to concurrent jail terms of up to one year; he surrendered his medical license and paid a $35,000 fine.15CBS News. William Strampel Sentenced Strampel was the first MSU employee convicted after the scandal broke and the only one whose conviction stood.16Michigan Advance. Former MSU Dean Convicted of Misconduct
Klages’s convictions are gone as a matter of law, but the trial record still contains sworn testimony from two former gymnasts describing what they say they told her in 1997.