DETROIT — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, one of his former top key aides and others won a legal victory this week when a federal appeals court panel ruled they won't have to testify in a trial related to the Flint water crisis.
The 2-1 decision Tuesday by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals centered on depositions given by Snyder, ex-aide Rich Baird, former Flint emergency managers Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose as well as former Flint public works supervisor Howard Croft in 2020, ahead of a federal civil lawsuit trial in which four young plaintiffs are suing engineering firms that contracted with the city.
They didn't invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the depositions, which were taken before unsealed indictments against them were revealed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office in January 2021.
