![]() ![]() ![]() Prosecutors Fadwa Hammoud and Kym Worthy chose that path in the Flint water probe to hear evidence in secret and get indictments against Snyder and others.īut the state Supreme Court said Michigan law is clear: A one-judge grand jury can’t issue indictments. A one-judge grand jury was extremely rare and had mostly been used in Detroit and Flint to protect witnesses, especially in violent crimes, who could testify in private. Prosecutors in Michigan typically file felony charges in District Court after a police investigation. ![]() The deadline, however, would be longer for charges faced by Lyon and Wells. ![]() Michigan’s six-year statute of limitations could be a problem in some cases if the attorney general’s office wants to file charges again. “Misleading statements about what Director Lyon did or didn’t do contribute nothing to a constructive public dialogue and do not represent justice for anyone.”īesides Lyon and Wells, charges were dismissed against Snyder’s longtime fixer in state government, Rich Baird former senior aide Jarrod Agen former Flint managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley and Nancy Peeler, a former health department manager. “This misuse of the criminal justice system has to stop,” Chip Chamberlain and Ron DeWaard said. Lyon’s attorneys praised Kelly’s decision and urged the attorney general’s office to close a “misguided prosecution.” They were accused of failing to timely warn the Flint area about the outbreak. The attorney general’s office lashed out at the courts after its latest defeat, declaring that “well-connected, wealthy individuals with political power and influence” had prevailed over Flint residents.īesides lead contamination, the Flint River water was blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, which typically spreads through cooling systems.įormer state health director Nick Lyon and former chief medical executive Eden Wells were charged with involuntary manslaughter in nine deaths linked to Legionnaires’. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission said it was the result of systemic racism, doubting that the water switch and the brush-off of complaints in the majority-Black city would have occurred in a white, prosperous community. Lead broke off from old pipes and contaminated the system for more than a year. But the river water wasn’t treated to reduce its corrosive qualities. In 2014, Flint managers appointed by Snyder took the city out of a regional water system and began using the Flint River to save money while a new pipeline to Lake Huron was being built. But he, too, was indicted in a process declared invalid by the Supreme Court. That’s only because he was charged with two misdemeanors - willful neglect of duty - and his case is being handled by another judge. Kelly’s decision doesn’t affect former Republican Gov. ![]()
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