DETROIT (AP) – Michigan’s health director will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges in the deaths of two men linked to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area.
Judge David Goggins on Monday ordered Nick Lyon to stand trial. Lyon is accused of failing to issue a timely alert about the outbreak. Some experts have blamed Legionnaires’ on Flint’s water, which wasn’t properly treated when it was drawn from the Flint River in 2014 and 2015.
Goggins found there’s probable cause for a trial. The legal standard isn’t as high as beyond a reasonable doubt.
The state says at least 90 cases of Legionnaires’ occurred in Genesee County, including 12 deaths. Lyon denies wrongdoing. His lawyers say sending the case to trial will “dangerously chill” public employees.
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