The Cost to Michigan Taxpayers when you overcharge someone
I just read that the cost to Michigan taxpayers for the defense of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon's manslaughter charge over the Flint water issue cost more than what Genesee County spent on court-appointed attorneys for every indigent defendant in the county in the last fiscal year.
Now that is outrageous and I believe shows us who ultimately pays for a government employee when they are over-charged with a crime.
The Flint Journal reported that the Attorneys for DHHS Director Nick Lyon have billed the state of Michigan taxpayers $1.6 million to date. They then reported that the Genesee Circuit Court Administrator Barbara Menear has said that Genesee County as a whole spent $1.5 million in the last fiscal year on public defenders.
I certainly am a person who believes that we should charge someone, either a private citizen or government employee what they rightfully should be charged with but when a prosecutors overcharge someone in government we are the ones who pay for it. This is especially true when the charges appear to be nothing more than a political move to show the citizens that they “care”.
Think about what happens to a private citizen when they have to defend themselves from outrageous charges by a prosecutor and the cost to them personally.
From the perspective of the state, Anna Heaton, press secretary for Gov. Rick Snyder, has stated that the decision on how much to spend on attorneys for employees accused of Flint water crimes is made by each department in state government.
We then have State Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, quoted in the article stating:
I don't know why they are spending so much money…It's very troubling. It makes (me question) what the real motive is.
So Senator Ananich did it ever “trouble” you when they charged Nick Lyon’s with manslaughter in the case. We do know the answer was no, you should have known then that the costs to the taxpayers to defend him against this charge was going to be astronomical. Wish you would have thought of us taxpayers then.