MDHHS employee latest to plead the Fifth in Flint water trial – MLive.com

ANN ARBOR, MI A Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) employee is the latest person to invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to testify in a civil bellwether trial in federal court.

Nancy Peeler, the states director of maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting for the health department at the time of Flint Water Crisis, briefly took the witness stand in the U.S. District Courtroom of Judge Judith E. Levy Wednesday, July 13, and declined to answer any questions pertaining to her duties with the MDHHS or the water crisis.

On advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based on the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Peeler responded to a handful of questions from Levy as well as attorneys representing Veolia North America (VNA).

Peeler said she would answer the same way when asked questions by attorneys for Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN) and attorneys representing for the plaintiffs in the case.

A witness has a right under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to decline to answer questions on the grounds that doing so may tend to incriminate the witness.

The jury was instructed that they may but are not required to infer from that refusal that the answer may have been adverse to the witness interest.

The Michigan Attorney Generals office previously charged Peeler with two counts of common law offenses and one count of neglect of duty. The case is currently pending in Genesee County Circuit Court.

A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9 during which Judge Elizabeth A. Kelly will rule on a motion filed by the AGs office requesting Peelers case be remanded to 67th District Court for a preliminary examination.

The motion was filed in response to a June ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court, which opined that a judge does not have the authority to indict a defendant. Peeler was one of the multiple defendants charged via a one-judge grand jury, in which Judge David J. Newblatt of the 7th Circuit Court served as the one-man grand jury on the matters, hearing evidence behind closed doors and then issuing indictments against the defendants.

Peelers attorney, Harold Z. Gurewitz, said in court Wednesday he intended to challenge that motion, believing that because of the Supreme Court ruling, the charges need to be dismissed.

The civil trial Peeler had been called to testify in Wednesday involves four Flint children who have sued two companies that advised the city of Flint during its water crisis.

Attorneys for the children claim their clients suffered acquired brain injuries from lead in Flint drinking water and claim the consulting companies are partially responsible for those damages.

Those companies VNA and LAN have contested the injuries claimed by the children and say government officials are solely responsible for elevated levels of lead in Flint water.

The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Read more on The Flint Journal:

Consultants expert says Flint kids suing over water crisis have healthy brains

Former Flint EM joins others in pleading the Fifth at Flint water trial

New court motions aim to put Flint water crisis prosecutions back on track

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MDHHS employee latest to plead the Fifth in Flint water trial - MLive.com