密歇根新闻广播 弗林特水危机刑事起诉进展

 

The criminal cases in the Flint water crisis are unfolding. State health director Nick Lyon had a hearing in court last week. The state’s chief medical officer Dr. Eden Wells had a hearing on Monday and she is now facing some new charges.

Michigan Radio reporter Steve Carmody has been covering the criminal prosecutions¹ and was at that hearing. He spoke² with Morning Edition host Doug Tribou about the ongoing³ proceedings⁴. (You can hear the conversation above.)

The Flint water crisis criminal prosecutions: Where things stand now

To date, 15 current and former state and local officials have been charged for their role that led to the Flint water crisis. The cases center on a Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Genesee County that killed a dozen people from 2014 to the end of 2015.

Health department officials, including Lyon, were aware of a spike⁵ in Legionnaires' cases in January 2015. However, the first public warning about the deadly form of pneumonia⁶ was not issued until a year later.

Thirteen of those charged are facing possible jail time.

Two have already pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors⁷.

Preliminary exams are just beginning. A preliminary exam is a court hearing to determine whether there's enough evidence for a case to move to trial.

Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office. Lyon's preliminary exam continues next month.

The preliminary exam for Michigan Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells was scheduled to begin on Monday, but was extended when prosecutors said they plan add new charges against her. Wells had already been charged with obstruction⁸ of justice and lying to a police officer. The new charges are involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office. Her preliminary exam will resume on Nov. 6.

There are preliminary exams for other defendants⁹ scheduled in November, December and January.

No trials are expected to begin until sometime in 2018.

It's not clear if some of the trials, if they happen, would include multiple defendants.

1 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

5 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

6 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

7 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

8 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

9 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件