ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The criminal probe into the Flint Water Crisis may have hit a brick wall, but the civil case is ongoing.
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder pled the fifth in federal court Thursday morning, as expected.
“Because of the way things have gone, we’ve gotten slapped in the face and kicked in the behind since this whole thing started,” said former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver. “And it continues to happen for this community.”
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appeared in person and invoked the Fifth Amendment against providing live testimony.
Instead, jurors will hear his already recorded deposition.
Thursday’s proceedings are known as a Bellwether trial, meaning it’s essentially a test case when you have the potential of thousands of individual plaintiffs.
The case has attorneys suing on behalf of four children against two engineering firms who did consulting work for Flint on water.
On Tuesday, the Michigan Supreme Court brought the criminal cases against top officials like Snyder to a screeching halt.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled the indictments against former state officials were all invalid because of the method the state Attorney General’s office used in getting them.
You’ll remember there has already been a $626 million settlement for Flint victims. The two engineering firms being sued here, though, are not a part of that settlement.