Rick Snyder

The decision says the Genesee County Circuit Court improperly allowed the very unusual process of having a one-person grand jury indict the former officials without a preliminary hearing.

Former Governor Rick Snyder, former Snyder aide Rich Baird, former Flint emergency managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Early and former Flint city official Howard Croft don’t want to testify in a Flint water crisis civil trial.

The former governor and four others are fighting subpoenas to testify in the civil trial. They are all facing criminal charges related to the Flint water crisis.

Snyder is among five potential witnesses in a federal civil trial who are facing criminal charges in connection with the crisis.

On Friday, a federal judge told lawyers for Gov. Snyder and the others to file written briefs next week, that would be a step toward appealing to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court.

The judge says Snyder and four others facing criminal charges may take the Fifth on the witness stand.

The former governor, two former emergency managers and two others previously answered questions in legal depositions in the civil case two years ago. But that was before they were criminally charged in connection with the Flint water crisis.

Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder wants to invoke his Fifth Amendment right and not testify at the civil trial.

The civil trial concerns damage claims by four children exposed to Flint’s tainted drinking water. Former Gov. Rick Snyder has been subpoenaed as a potential witness.

Seven defendants, including former State Health Director Nick Lyon, are due in court Wednesday for a motions hearing.