Charges Dropped: Indicted Michigan State Officials No Longer Face Charges For Roles in Flint Water Crisis After Procedural Error

A Michigan state judge dismissed charges against seven former state officials, finding their indictments invalid due to a procedural error [1]. Eden Wells, Richard Baird, Jarrod Agen, Nancy Peeler, Gerald Ambrose, Nicolas Lyon, and Darnell Early were charged with various felony counts of misconduct in office, perjury, and involuntary manslaughter for their roles in the 2015 water crisis in Flint, Michigan [2].

Richard Baird, Nancy Peeler, and Nicolas Lyon challenged their indictments, arguing that Judge David Newblatt could not indict them using a “one-man grand jury” without a preliminary examination [3]. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that according to two Michigan laws, MCL 767.3 and MCL 767.4, while judges can act as a “one-man grand jury to investigate, subpoena witnesses, and issue arrest warrants, those statutes do not authorize that one-man grand jury to issue an indictment initiating a criminal prosecution” [3].

Judge Newblatt of the Genesee Circuit Court denied Lyon’s motion to dismiss the charges. Similarly, Peeler and Baird were denied leave to appeal by the Court of Appeals. Lyon also filed for leave of appeal but requested that the Supreme Court consider it before a ruling by the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court considered a request by Peeler and Baird as well, ruling unanimously that the accused is entitled to a preliminary examination before trial if the “criminal process begins with a one-man grand jury” [3].

In response, the Wayne County prosecutor, Michigan Solicitor General, and Flint Water prosecution team issued a statement saying that they “have spent years on this case only to see it thwarted based upon a new interpretation of a nearly century-old law” [1]. The charges were dismissed on October 4, 2022, after prosecutors and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel saw no path forward following the Court’s June 28, 2022, decision [4].