Federal appeals court: Snyder didn't waive Fifth Amendment right in Flint case

Former Gov. Rick Snyder did not waive his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he gave a sworn deposition in a civil lawsuit related to the poisoning of Flint's drinking water supply, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling by U.S. District Judge Judith Levy in Ann Arbor, who ruled during a civil lawsuit this year that Snyder could not refuse to testify at trial after earlier giving a deposition in the same case.

In a 2-1 opinion, the appeals court said that the deposition and trial are separate proceedings for the purposes of a Fifth Amendment waiver.

Snyder and other deposition witnesses who later wanted to exercise their Fifth Amendment right when called to testify at trial "were subject to cross-examination during their deposition," Circuit Judge Richard Allen Griffin said, writing for the majority.

"They may face further incrimination during trial by repetition of their testimony, the possibility of further disclosure, and the threat of perjury. The purposes of a deposition and trial serve different ends."

The monthslong civil lawsuit, in which Flint residents were suing two consulting firms that did work for the city of Flint, ended in a mistrial in August, when jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

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Snyder's video deposition was played for jurors, but he did not take the stand in the presence of the jury.

Lawyers for Snyder, former Flint emergency managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley, former Flint public works official Howard Croft and former Snyder adviser Richard Baird all gave lengthy depositions in the case in 2020, before learning in early 2021 that they faced criminal charges in connection with the lead poisoning of Flint's drinking water supply. Levy earlier heard testimony that at least some of the defendants' lawyers believed the statute of limitations for criminal charges had expired when they agreed to give deposition testimony.

More recently, court rulings have put the criminal charges against all five men in jeopardy, though the office of Attorney General Dana Nessel has said it is appealing those rulings.

Snyder is charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Appeals court: Snyder didn't waive 5th Amendment rights in Flint case