DETROIT (AP) – Accusations against former Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water scandal must be dismissed after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a judge has no power to issue indictments under a centuries-old, rarely used law.
This is an astonishing defeat for Attorney General Dana Nessel, who took office in 2019, got rid of a special prosecutor and formed a new team to investigate whether crimes were committed when lead contaminated Flint’s plumbing system in 2014-15.
State laws “authorize a judge to investigate, call witnesses and issue arrest warrants” as the sole grand jury, the Supreme Court said.
“But they do not authorize the judge to issue indictments,” the court said in a 6-0 statement.
The challenge was filed by lawyers for former health director Nick Lion. But the ruling also applies to Snyder and others, who were indicted by Genesee County Judge David Newblatt.
“It wasn’t even a close case – it had six zippers,” said Lyon’s lawyer Chip Chamberlain. “It was based on a clear reading of the statute. They couldn’t do what they tried. “
There was no immediate comment from Snyder’s legal team. The Prosecutor General’s Office said it was reviewing the opinion.
In a move to save money, Slyder’s Flint managers transferred the city’s water source to the Flint River. State regulators have said river water should not be treated to reduce its corrosive properties. It was a disastrous decision: lead from old pipes flowed through the system for 18 months in the black city with the majority.
Snyder was charged with two counts of willful misconduct. Former Lyon and Michigan chief medical officer Dr. Eden Wells has been charged with manslaughter for nine legionnaires’ disease deaths where Flint’s water system may have lacked enough chlorine to fight bacteria in the water. on the river.
Six others were also charged on various charges: Snyder’s longtime mediator, Rich Baird; former senior assistant Jarod Agen; former Flint managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley; former head of public affairs at Flint Howard Croft; and Nancy Peeler, manager of the state health department.
Nessel instructed Fadwa Hamoud to lead the criminal investigation, along with Wayne County Attorney Kim Worthy, while the Attorney General focused on settling lawsuits against the state.
Hamoud and Worthy turned to the grand jury of a Genesee County judge – a centuries-old, rarely used method – to hear secret evidence and get charges against Snyder and others.
“There are no velvet ropes in our criminal justice system,” Hamoud said proudly in 2021 when charges were filed. “No one – no matter how strong or has good connections – is over-responsible when they commit a crime.
But she and her team, acting on Worthy’s recommendation, did not follow a traditional process. Hamoud has not yet publicly explained why.
Michigan prosecutors usually file charges after a police investigation. A grand jury by a single judge is extremely rare and is used primarily to protect witnesses, especially in violent crimes that may testify in secret.
“It seems that the power of an investigating judge to indict is just an undisputed assumption so far,” the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.
Flint’s water switch and its aftermath have been under investigation for crimes since 2016, when then-Attorney General Bill Schuet, a Republican, appointed Todd Flood as special prosecutor. Shuet promised to put the people in prison, but the results were different: seven people did not oppose the violations, which were eventually deleted from their files.
Flood insisted he won the cooperation of key witnesses and moved higher to bigger names. Nevertheless, Democrat Nessel fired him and promised to start over after she was elected attorney general.
Separately, the state agreed to pay $ 600 million as part of a $ 626 million agreement with Flint residents and property owners who were damaged by lead-contaminated water. Most of the money goes to children.
Meanwhile, about 10,100 lead or steel pipes were replaced in Flint’s homes by last December.
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