The Michigan judge in a Flint water crisis case declared a mistrial on Thursday.
Magistrate Judge David Grand with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan made the call after receiving a note from the eight-member jury stating that they could not give a verdict in the trial without risking the mental health and well-being of one of the jurors, who reportedly had multiple emotional outbursts during the proceedings.
With the trial ending in a hung jury, Grand hailed what he said was “the most dedicated group of jurors to ever serve in the Eastern District,” according to Detroit News.
“Further deliberations will only result in stress and anxiety, with no unanimous decision, without someone having to surrender their honest convictions solely for the purpose of returning a verdict,” the note reads.
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The lawsuit, the first related to the crisis to make it to trial, revolves around contaminated drinking water in Flint from 2014 to 2015. The two defendants in the case, private engineering companies Veolia North America and Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, are being sued over their alleged role in the incident on accusations including negligence.
Their defense attorneys supported the mistrial, stating that “it would be stressful to continue deliberations,” and they described the dilemma the jury faced as the “epitome of a mistrial.”
The plaintiffs in the trial are four children who were living in the city at the time of the crisis, according to the report. In April 2014, Flint began using water from the Flint River as its main source of drinking water, which allowed the water to corrode the city’s pipes and let metals, such as lead, flow into people’s homes. The drinking water source was switched in October 2015, per the report.
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Side effects of lead poisoning include abdominal pain, headaches, memory loss, and weakness, while high levels of lead exposure can lead to kidney and brain damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 12 people died during the water crisis in 2014, according to the BBC.
