WELCOME

Lyon, who was appointed by former Gov. Rick Snyder in

Nov. 27, 2018 by Elizabeth Duran

Lyon, who was appointed by former Gov. Rick Snyder in March, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of unlawful manufacture, three counts of negligent homicide and one count of criminal intimidation.

The prosecutor's office declined comment on the court's sentencing, saying it would only comment on pending appeals.

Lyon was appointed to the state's health department in June 2015, when he was appointed to the top job by then-Gov. Wayne County Prosecutor Ron Kitzhaber. At the time, he was head of the health department's internal affairs division.

State Attorney General Bill Schuette, who has been a Republican in the Legislature since 2010, appointed Lyon in May 2016.

In the ruling, Goggins cited the Michigan Department of Health's records showing that Lyon and Snyder had a drinking-water crisis that year and reported their illnesses to state authorities.

"Accordingly, Lyon is a person of interest and should not be charged with involuntary manslaughter," Goggins wrote.

The judge also agreed with the state's attorney general and agreed to issue Lyon a summons for further questioning, saying he is not an "officer of the state or the department of health."

Goggins did not rule out the possibility that Lyon could face criminal charges, saying only that the state's "state attorney general's office should not be held to account" when investigating Lyon's actions.

The judge also agreed to order Lyon to produce more than 20,000 pages of medical records, including his health and family records. The court also ordered Lyon to provide the records to the Michigan Public Health Commission, which has jurisdiction over the city's water system.

The state Attorney general's office has asked for Lyon's arrest, and Goggins will decide whether to charge him.

The Snyder administration is looking at another potential criminal indictment for the deaths of Skidmore, who was placed on administrative leave at the time of the Snyder administration's decision to move Flint to federal care in 2014. A federal investigation by the Associated Press and the Michigan Court of Special Appeals last year concluded that Snyder did not know Skidmore had died due to the poisoned water he was exposed to when he took up the position.

Kitzhaber has denied the charges.