The Michigan Supreme Court ruled today that a judge had no authority to issue indictments in the Flint water criminal case. The charges against eight defendants including former Gov. Rick Snyder, Nancy Peeler, Rich Baird and Nick Lyon have been wiped out. A statement from Gov. Snyder’s legal counsel from Warner Norcross + Judd is below:
We applaud today’s decision from the Michigan Supreme Court, which leaves no doubt about how Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office egregiously mishandled these cases from the beginning. As the Michigan Supreme Court makes clear, these prosecutions of Governor Snyder and the other defendants were never about seeking justice for the citizens of Flint. Rather, Attorney General Nessel and her political appointee Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud staged a self-interested, vindictive, wasteful, and politically motivated prosecution. The people of Michigan will recall how Solicitor General Hammoud took to the stage at every opportunity to grandstand, but they now see the truth from Michigan’s highest court of law. We will be moving immediately to dismiss all criminal charges against Governor Snyder based on today’s unequivocal and scathing Supreme Court ruling.