(AP/WXMI) — A Michigan judge dismissed charges Tuesday against seven people in the Flint water scandal, including two former state health officials blamed for deaths from Legionnaires' disease.
Judge Elizabeth Kelly took action three months after the Michigan Supreme Court said a one-judge grand jury had no authority to issue indictments.
Kelly rejected efforts by the attorney general's office to just send the cases to Flint District Court and turn them into criminal complaints, the typical path to filing felony charges in Michigan.
“Simply put, there are no valid charges,” Kelly said.
Kelly's decision doesn't affect former Gov. Rick Snyder. That's only because he was charged with misdemeanors and his case is being handled by a judge in a different Flint court. But he, too, was indicted in a process declared invalid by the Supreme Court.
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 the river water wasn’t treated to reduce its corrosive qualities. Lead broke off from old pipes and contaminated the system for more than a year.
Separately, the water was blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, which typically spreads through heating and cooling systems.
Randall Levine, attorney for Rich Baird, advisor to former Governor Rick Snyder, released the following statement in response to the news:
“This has been a long haul.
“From the start, we objected to the use of the one-man grand jury. The government deliberately chose to use this archaic statute in order to proceed against Mr. Baird in secrecy, hoping to deny him a right to preliminary examination. The defense attorneys worked tirelessly and were able to bring the matter before the Michigan Supreme Court, which found these indictments were invalid as the one man grand jury acted without authority to issue them. The government sought to have Judge Kelly simply remand the case to start anew, after the MSC ruling, but were unsuccessful.
"Today, Judge Kelly followed the dictates of the high court when she ordered that the Flint Water cases be DISMISSED.”
Chip Chamberlin, attorney for Nicolas Lyon, released the following statement Tuesday:
"Today, the circuit court dismissed the case against Director Lyon—precisely as it was ordered to do by the Michigan Supreme Court this past summer.
"This ruling was the logical result of a misguided prosecution which used unlawful processes to investigate crimes that never occurred. For over six years, the prosecution has ignored what actually happened and, instead, pursued unsupportable claims and legal theories.
"The prosecution has urged that this recent dismissal is not on the merits; rather, it concedes only a technical knockout. Yet, multiple times Director Lyon has sought a ruling on the merits, and the courts have yet to rule. The one time the court was prepared to rule–in 2019–the prosecution voluntarily dismissed the case rather than face the legal music.
"Director Lyon is confident that a fair and impartial investigation would exonerate him. For over three years, his lawyers have offered repeatedly to meet with the prosecutorial team to detail why hindsight–especially in this case–should not serve as a basis to prosecute public officials for the good-faith decisions that they make. These requests have been completely ignored–just like his request that the prosecutors use a process to protect privileged information, which the prosecutors have also ignored until the court ordered them to do so. Today’s ruling reaffirmed the court’s order, which will require the prosecution to employ a taint to protect information it should not have.
"The prosecution has resorted to misleading and unfounded public statements about the case indicating it may file charges – for a third time. There was no basis in 2017 to charge Director Lyon, no basis in 2021 to charge him again, and there is no basis today. This misuse of the criminal justice system has to stop. 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."
The following statement comes from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud:
“We are committed to Flint.
"Despite the prosecution’s tireless pursuit of justice for the victims of the water crisis, the courts have once again sided in favor of well-connected, wealthy individuals with political power and influence instead of the families and children of Flint.
"The proceedings up to this point have been a challenge of process that ultimately led to the Supreme Court, where a prosecutorial tool that has been relied upon for decades was suddenly changed. That same tool has been used and was historically upheld by the appellate courts in various jurisdictions in Michigan to bring charges against defendants of often-limited means. However, it was not until its use in this case against these privileged and well-funded defendants that the courts did see fit to overturn established precedent and procedure.
"We longed for the day when we would present the evidence against the defendants to a jury. However, these defendants have spared no expense to ensure that these cases were disposed of by judges based upon anything except the merits of the cases. As a result, the victims of Flint have never had their day in court.
"There are not adequate words to express the anger and disappointment felt by our team, who have spent years on this case only to see it thwarted based upon a new interpretation of a nearly century-old law. Though it may be of little comfort, the people of Flint have always had on their side a dedicated team of lawyers and advocates committed to justice and with the sincere belief that what happened to the people of Flint is a crime.
"The civil settlements are not sufficient. Compensation is not the same as accountability for those who allegedly allowed an entire town to be poisoned. And it is not the same as justice.
The prosecution has pledged to exhaust all available legal options to pursue this case and that pledge remains. The team will review today’s ruling and continue its pursuit of justice for Flint.”
