Judge moves Flint water cases ahead, says Dec. 5 exam date 'etched in stone'

FLINT, MI -- A Genesee District Court judge has set a Dec. 5 preliminary examination for four Flint water crisis defendants, saying the cases have lingered long enough.

"I want to get this started," Judge Nathaniel Perry said Monday, Aug. 28. "We've dilly-dallied too long on these things."

Perry set the hearing date -- the first hurdle for prosecutors pursuing criminal charges against the current and former city and state employees -- during a hearing for four individuals -- former emergency managers Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, and former Flint officials Howard Croft and Daugherty Johnson.

At a preliminary exam, special prosecutor Todd Flood must call witnesses and present enough evidence to show Perry there is probable cause to believe that crimes have been committed and that those charged are the people who committed them.

Read more: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2017/08/judge_moves_flint_water_cases.html