The Michigan Supreme Court says three former state officials should be allowed to hear and challenge the evidence used to indict them in a criminal Flint water case. The decision says the Genesee County Circuit Court improperly allowed the very unusual process of having a one-person grand jury indict the former officials without a preliminary hearing.
The three officials worked in former Governor Rick Snyder's administration. They are former Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, Nancy Peeler — who also worked for the department — and Richard Baird, who was a top advisor to Snyder. The high court said the lower court should also consider Lyon's motion to dismiss the charges against him.
John Bursch is the lawyer for Lyon, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter. Bursch says it’s time for the Flint prosecutions to end.
“The court compared the attorney general’s tactics here to the star chamber, which you may know is the 15th to 17th century English court of inquiry that became synonymous with social and political oppression through the arbitrary use and abuse of the power it wielded,” he said.
The attorney general must go back to the Genesee County Circuit Court and present evidence in a preliminary hearing or drop the case. A spokesperson for Attorney General Dana Nessel said the decision is being reviewed.
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