Judge tosses charges against 7 people in Flint water crisis

A Michigan judge dismissed felony charges Tuesday against seven people in the Flint water scandal, including two former state health officials blamed for deaths from Legionnaires' disease.

The judge's dismissal was significant but not a complete surprise after the Michigan Supreme Court in June unanimously said a different judge acting as a one-person grand jury had no authority to issue indictments.

Judge Elizabeth Kelly rejected efforts by the attorney general's office to just send the cases to Flint District Court and turn them into criminal complaints, the typical path to filing felony charges in Michigan. It was a last-gasp effort to keep things afloat.