Jury can’t reach verdict in Flint water trial

A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors said they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in a dispute over whether two engineering firms should bear some responsibility for Flint’s leadcontaminated water.

Veolia North America and Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, known as LAN, were accused of not doing enough to get Flint to treat the highly corrosive water or to urge a return to a regional water supplier.

The eight-person jury met for roughly seven days after hearing evidence for months. The jury first signalled on July 28 that it couldn’t reach a verdict before taking a planned 11-day break. The group returned to work Tuesday.

“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 jury said in a new note Thursday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand declared a mistrial, rejecting a request by lawyers for four children to allow a verdict that’s less than unanimous. “This is not a focus group,” Grand said.

The trial centred on the engineering firms and the effects of lead on the children, not all Flint residents. But the result was being closely watched because there are other cases pending against Veolia and LAN.