DETROIT (WWJ) - A judge formally dismissed misdemeanor charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in connection to the Flint water crisis, ordering his police records and booking photo be destroyed, effectively closing out a tumultuous chapter in state history.
The dismissal comes weeks after the Michigan Supreme Court rejected an appeal from state prosecutors and closing out criminal cases against Snyder and others, including two ex-state health officials blamed for deaths stemming from Legionnaires' disease.
Snyder left office on December 31, 2018, due to term limits, but was later charged with willful neglect of duty in January 2021. He was the first person in state history to be charged for alleged crimes related to service as governor.
The dismissal order, signed by Judge William Crawford on December 11, calls for authorities to destroy Snyder's initial 2021 processing records by police, to include his fingerprints and booking photo.
The criminal cases against Snyder and eight others began to unravel after Michigan Supreme Court in June 2022 unanimously said a different judge acting as a one-person grand jury had no authority to issue indictments.
The Flint water scandal stemmed from an April 2014 decision by city managers appointed by Snyder to change Flint's water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department -- which was sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River -- to the Flint River in an effort to save money until construction on a new pipeline could be completed.
But the river water wasn't treated to reduce its corrosive qualities, which resulted in lead from aging pipes seeping into the water supply. It is estimated that 100,000 residents were exposed to elevated lead levels for more than a year.
The issue was then blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that left 12 Genesee County residents dead.
The city ended up switching back to the Detroit water system on October 16, 2015 and a public health emergency was finally declared in Flint in 2016.
Back in October, the attorney general's office said it planned to release a report of its investigation into Snyder and other officials tried to the water crisis.
Defense attorney Brian Lennon said Snyder's legal team would also release their own report, stating: "then the people of Flint can quickly decide for themselves who lied to them and who is telling them the truth."