People v. Woods

i. nature of the case

This interlocutory appeal raises an issue of first impression under Michigan law: May a sophisticated elected official escape criminal culpability for election fraud by claiming reliance on another elected official’s representation that the charged conduct is legal? Defendant here involved himself in the distribution and collection of absentee ballots in an election where he and his brother were on the ballot — conduct that is illegal for reasons that are obvious even to the unsophisticated voter. Because he allegedly tainted the 1996 primary election in Buena Vista…