FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A judge says a group of people indicted in the Flint water scandal has no right to challenge the evidence in District Court.

The decision is a defeat for five people who were charged with felonies through indictments.

Indictments are rarely used in state courts. People typically charged with felonies are entitled to a hearing called a preliminary exam at which a judge sends a case to trial or dismisses it. But Genesee County Judge Elizabeth Kelly said that’s not the procedure after an indictment.

Nine people were indicted by a judge serving as a one-person grand jury in Flint.

Former Gov. Rick Snyder was charged with misdemeanors and wasn’t part of the challenge.