Flint water crisis charges dismissed against ex-Gov. Snyder
FLINT, MICH. >> A judge dismissed criminal charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the Flint water crisis, months after the state Supreme Court said indictments returned by a one-person grand jury were invalid.
Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. He was the first person in state history to be charged for alleged crimes related to service as governor.
Snyder also is the eighth person to have a Flint water case thrown out after the Supreme Court’s unanimous June opinion.
Genesee County Judge F. Kay Behm signed the order Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Senate approved her nomination to become a federal judge in eastern Michigan.
“The charges against (Snyder) were not properly brought and must be dismissed at this time,” Behm wrote, sending the case to a lower court for the final step, weeks after hearing arguments.
In response, prosecutors in the Democratic-led attorney general’s office said it will add the result to other appeals.
“Rulings up to this point have been on process alone, not on the merits of the case,” prosecutors said.
“We are confident that the evidence clearly supports the criminal charges against Rick Snyder,” they added, “and we will not stop until we have exhausted all possible legal
options to secure justice for the people of Flint.”
Prosecutors could try to rerun the case with new charges, but any effort might encounter a six-year statute of limitations.
“That would be one of our many arguments,” Snyder attorney Brian Lennon told The Associated Press. “This is a victory and hopefully the end to this politically motivated prosecution.”
Only one case remains pending in the water scandal, which not only exposed children to toxic lead but was blamed for deaths linked to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Activists who believe crimes were committed are frustrated that no one has been locked up.
The attorney general’s office has desperately tried to keep the cases alive but so far has lost at every turn. Prosecutors have argued that the indictments could simply be turned into common criminal complaints in district court, but Behm and another judge have rejected that approach.