People v. Hall

Defendant is charged with violating the Michigan Election Law 1 by forging nominating petitions in a 2012 judicial election. At issue is whether defendant may be bound over to circuit court on felony charges for committing forgery under MCL 168.937, or whether the prosecution was limited to proceeding with misdemeanor charges under MCL 168.544c(8)(a) for signing the petitions “with a name other than his . . . own.” The lower courts believed that the statutes conflicted, creating an ambiguity, and therefore held that defendant could be charged only with the lesser misdemeanor offense. 2 We…