Former Gov. Snyder doesn’t want to testify in Flint trial, plans to plead the Fifth – Detroit Free Press

Flint water crisis

The ongoing Flint water crisis has taken a toll on residents of this iconic Michigan city, who have been living with lead-tainted tap water.

Brian Kaufman and Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press

FormerMichigan Gov. Rick Snyder has moved to quash his subpoena to testify at a civil lawsuit related to the Flint water crisis and says he will invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination if required to take the stand.

But there is a legal question over whether Snyder has already partially waived his Fifth Amendment rights by sitting for a deposition in the civil lawsuit back in 2020, before he was charged criminally.

U.S. District Judge Judith Levy is expected to hold a hearing March 15 on whether to quash the subpoena. The civil trial started in late February and could last four months.

Snyderfaces two criminal misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. Both charges were brought in January 2021 by a one-person grand jury.

The former governor has also been subpoenaed to testify in a federal civil lawsuit in Ann Arbor in which the defendants are consultants who did work for the city of Flint related to the city's water supply. They are Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam (LAN) and its parent company, Leo A. Daly Co., and a second company, Veolia Water North America Operating Services.

Veolia has subpoenaed Snyder to testify and he also appears on LAN's witness list.

"Gov. Snyder will invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination as to any question that related to his response to the Flint Water Crisis i.e., all questions that conceivably could be put to him," Snyder attorney Brian Lennon of Grand Rapids said in a late Friday court filing.

More: Consulting firms shift blame as Flint water crisis lawsuit trial begins in federal court

More: Former Gov. Rick Snyder faces 2 criminal charges in Flint water case

Lennon said the criminal charges against Snyder are "exceptionally broad" and "question all of his actions" related to the lead poisoning of Flint's water supply that began in 2014. In the civil case, "the parties have made clear that they intend to ask Gov. Snyder questions ... that go to the same issues underlying his criminal charges."

Lennon said the risk of Snyder being criminally charged "appeared to be low" when he sat for a two-day deposition in the civil case and never invoked his right against self-incrimination. Snyder has not waived that right with respect to the civil case, but the transcript of his deposition could be introduced as evidence, he said.

There is a legal question aboutwhether Snyder has waived his Fifth Amendment rights, at least with respect to questions he answered and topics he discussed during his deposition in the case.

"To be clear, Gov. Snyder maintains his innocence," Lennon said. "But as the Supreme Court has recognized, the Fifth Amendment privilege is available to the innocent."

On Monday, former Flint emergency managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley and former Flint public works employee Howard Croft also filed a joint motionto quash their subpoenas in the civil trial. All three gave depositions in the case in 2020, after criminal charges against them were dismissed in 2019 but before new charges were brought in 2021, under Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

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Former Gov. Snyder doesn't want to testify in Flint trial, plans to plead the Fifth - Detroit Free Press