Jury can’t reach verdict in engineers’ Flint water trial

DETROIT — A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors said they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in a dispute over whether two engineering firms should bear some responsibility for Flint’s lead-contaminated water.

Veolia North America and Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, known as LAN, were accused of not doing enough to get Flint to treat the highly corrosive water or to urge a return to a regional water supplier.

The eight-person jury met for roughly seven days after hearing evidence for months.

The jury first signaled on July 28 that it couldn’t reach a verdict before taking a planned 11-day break. The group returned to work Tuesday.

“Further deliberations will only result in stress and anxiety with no unanimous decision without someone having to surrender their honest convictions, solely for the purpose of returning a verdict,” the jury said in a new note Thursday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand declared a mistrial, rejecting a request by lawyers for four children to allow a verdict that’s less than unanimous.

“This is not a focus group,” Grand said.

“We don’t see this as a defeat,” Veolia attorney Dan Stein told The Associated Press. “The plaintiffs were the ones trying to prove their claims to the jury, and they were unable to do so.”

Corey Stern, an attorney for the four children, said he was only one juror shy from winning the case. The lack of a verdict means a trial can be held again with a different jury.

“I’m fired up for the next one,” Stern said. “I wish the judge would schedule it for Monday. I hated leaving the courthouse. You’re an inch from the goal line after toting the ball for 99 yards.”