Former Gov. Rick Snyder Trial Begins For Alleged Involvement In Flint Water Crisis

(CBS DETROIT) - Counsel representing former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder sounding off during Tuesday morning's pretrial in a Genesee County courtroom.

Snyder is charged with two counts of willful neglect of duty by a public officer – regarding his involvement in the Flint water crisis.

On Tuesday, his attorney claimed the prosecution was withholding information.

"I don't have a list of witnesses, I don't have addresses, I don't have any of the stuff I was supposed to get 21 days – we filed that motion for discovery, the request for discovery, Jan. 19. so just the basic things of court rule we do not have, your honor," said Attorney Brian Lennon.

In all, 21 million documents. The prosecution said it has sent over four million documents so far.

The prosecution went on to tell the court that in an earlier court proceeding the defense had called for a stay.

That put a pause on all deadlines.

The prosecution claims it's not withholding anything and transferring those documents take time.

For his part, Judge William Crawford wants to see the legal proceedings move forward after today's hearing provided little in the way of progress.

"I see no benefit to anybody in the world to this case sitting here. Not to the defendant, who I'm sure would like to have that matter resolved, to the people, to anybody with any interest in this case, it needs to move. Just sitting here given the mountain of issues that I see before us still we're wasting valuable time," said Crawford.

It is unclear when the parties will return to the courtroom.

If convicted, Snyder faces up to a year in prison and a thousand dollar fine for the misdemeanor charges.

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