(Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
By Ashanti Lee Seabron
(FLINT, Mich.) Judge William Crawford II of Michigan's 67th District Court denied a request by former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's legal team to dismiss misdemeanor charges against him for his role in the Flint water scandal, according to CBS Detroit.
Snyder's lawyers tried to argue that he had worked out of Ingham County, not Flint's Genesee County, and that therefore the indictment against their client had been aimed in the wrong place. Judge Crawford II, however, said that the Flint prosecutors had full domain regarding where they could pursue a case.
Snyder’s attorneys plan to appeal the decision, and Judge Crawford said that if Snyder ends up going to trial, a jury will be asked to determine if charges of willful neglect of duty by Snyder's administration occurred within in the boundaries of Flint and Genesee County.
Snyder, who left his position in disgrace at the end of 2018, is charged with failing to timely declare a state of emergency in Flint after it used the Flint River for drinking water in 2014 and 2015. This inaction lead to many Flint residents drinking the lead-contaminated water and producing a spike in Legionnaires’ disease among them.
Alongside his role in the Flint water scandal, Snyder has also been accused of violating Michigan's state constitution by failing to check the performance of public officials that worked under his control.