A new investigation of the Flint water disaster led to charges against nine people who are accused of various crimes in a calamitous plan that contaminated the community with lead and contributed to a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.
DETROIT (Tribune News Service) — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder appeared in a Flint court Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty to two charges of willful neglect of duty as state prosecutors revealed indictments against nine defendants as a result of the Flint water crisis. Despite the lower-level charges compared with other defendants, the case against Snyder marked a significant moment in the state’s political history. Snyder is the first Michigan governor or former governor to be charged with a crime for alleged conduct while in office. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel praised the high-profile prosecutions led by her office’s Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud as well as Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. Nessel had said earlier that she had walled herself off from the criminal cases, turning her focus instead to ongoing civil cases related to the contamination of Flint’s drinking water beginning more than six years ago. “Solicitor General Hammoud and Prosecutor Worthy’s track records demonstrate their commitment to public service as experienced prosecutors, which is why I appointed them to lead the criminal investigation in the Flint water crisis,” Nessel said in a statement Thursday around noontime. “I trust today’s announcement reflects their professional responsibilities and ethical obligations as the prosecuting authorities in this matter, and that their decisions are based solely on the facts, the law and the evidence.” The totality of the Flint water catastrophe may never be known, but the failures of public officials who “evaded accountability for far too long” continue to reverberate throughout the community, Hammoud said. “When an entire city is victimized by the negligence and indifference of those in power, it deserves an uncompromising investigation that holds to account anyone who is criminally culpable. That is what all citizens in this state are entitled to regards of their zip code,” Hammoud said at a press conference Thursday. “Let me be clear, there are no velvet ropes in our criminal justice system. Nobody, no matter how powerful or well connected is above accountability when they commit a crime,” she said. In a remote court appearance Thursday morning, Snyder,62, wore a navy blazer, a light blue collared shirt without a necktie and a gray face mask. He was seated next to his attorney, Brian Lennon, in a Genesee County jail booth as they appeared for the hearing via Zoom. Snyder spoke sparingly during the hearing. His only words were “yes, your honor” in response to Odette’s question if he lives in the state. Snyder did not say which city or town. During the arraignment before Genesee District Judge Christopher Odette, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office sought to restrict Snyder’s travel during the case by surrendering his passport because Snyder is a “man of means” with international contacts. But Odette only ordered Snyder not to leave the state without the court’s permission. “I’m not going to have him surrender his passport on a misdemeanor charge,” Odette said. Odette also set a personal recognizance bond of $10,000 on each charge for Snyder. The former governor walked out of the county sheriff’s office after the remote hearing but did not comment to awaiting reporters and photographers. “The two misdemeanor charges filed today against former Gov. Rick Snyder are wholly without merit and this entire situation is puzzling,” Brian Lennon, Snyder’s attorney and partner at Warner Norcross + Judd, said in a statement after the hearing Thursday. Nessel filed charges against Snyder on Wednesday, a day before her office was set to announce new details in the Flint water crisis investigation. Genesee County District Court records show the charges stem from an alleged offense on April 25, 2014 — the day Flint began using the Flint River as its new water source. Each charge Snyder faces is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $1,000. Prosecutors have rarely moved against the state’s chief executives in or out of office. In 1975, former Democratic Gov. John Swainson was indicted for bribery while a member of the Michigan Supreme Court. Swainson, who was Michigan governor in 1961 and 1962, was later acquitted of the bribery charge but convicted of perjury. He died in 1994. Nessel, a Democrat elected in 2018, is scheduled to make a major announcement Thursday in the state’s criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis. Nessel’s office said the outcome of the state’s criminal investigation would be discussed, but it did not release any details about who may be charged or what the nature of the charges could be. New charges in the Flint criminal case mark a dramatic escalation of the long-dormant prosecution. Critics had once chided criminal investigators for only bringing charges against lower-ranked local and state officials while bypassing Snyder. But some legal experts believe convicting a former governor for his conduct in office could be a substantial courtroom challenge. Snyder, a Republican who has been out of office for two years, was governor when state-appointed managers in Flint switched the city’s water to the Flint River in 2014 as a cost-saving step while a pipeline was being built to Lake Huron. The water, however, was not treated to reduce corrosion — a disastrous decision affirmed by state regulators that caused lead to leach from old pipes and poison the distribution system used by nearly 100,000 residents. The prosecution also widened Thursday to include more serious charges against two of Snyder’s former top aides as well as his former health department director. Richard Baird, a top aide to former Snyder, has been charged with four felonies — including extortion and obstruction of justice — as part of the Flint water crisis criminal investigation.
