Yesterday — after reading this story about the Flint water disaster and tough-on-people nerd Rick Snyder — I reached out to Dana Nessel, my former opponent in the 2018 race for Attorney General. I offered to help find attorneys who are clearly associated with an alternative party (and thus neither Democrats nor Republicans). My idea was that we could help the AG’s office go through the more recently found documents and materials in the case, and help enable filing of new charges as appropriate before the statute of limitations runs out.
I knew that the deadline for filing charges might be later than the article suggests, since the Michigan Supreme Court has issued Administrative Orders postponing deadlines in general for filing legal paperwork based on the Governor’s “stay home, stay safe” Executive Orders. And then I found this article quoting the officials now in charge of the investigation:
“April 25, 2014, is a significant date in the history of the Flint Water Crisis. However, we want to correct the misconception that April 25, 2020 is the deadline to bring charges against those who may be criminally liable. Criminal statutes of limitations vary depending on the offense and the date of the alleged criminal act. Though we cannot comment on the specifics of our investigation, we remain on track, and we are delivering on our commitment to the people of Flint.”
If these prosecutors aren’t blowing smoke, then two more possibilities occur to me. One is that they’re looking at acts performed after 2014-04-25. For those, the clock would start running later, so they’d have more time to apply to indict Snyder within the six-year period for the charge discussed in the first linked article: felony misconduct in office.
The other is that they’re looking at other charges that have a longer limitations period. And one of those listed in subsection (6) of this section of state law also happens to be the charge that the previous prosecution team had convinced a judges to bind over two high-level Snyder Administration figures for a jury trial — state Health Department director Nick Lyon and the state’s chief medical officer, Eden Wells — before AG Nessel dropped the charges on both.
The charge: manslaughter. Whether voluntary or involuntary, manslaughter has a ten-year charging period. Flint legislators have been trying to address this situation by extending the limit for felony misconduct in office from the normal six for most significant criminal charges to this same ten years . . . but their bills to do this are stalled in the Legislature.
I would follow both approaches. The case of Snyder versus Flint surely deserves special attention, a full investigation, and trials and punishments no matter how far and high the evidence leads. OTOH, I also believe that, if we want to clean up our peninsulas and raise Michigan from dead last in government transparency and accountability, we should hold our elected leaders to — ahem — tougher standards.
jalp For the People 