In People v. Hall, No. 150677, the Michigan Supreme Court granted mini-oral argument to consider whether to grant leave to appeal on the issue of whether the Election Code’s forgery and nomination petition provisions conflict and therefore the defendant may only be charged under the misdemeanor statute. The defendant was charged with forgery under MCL 168.937, after he forged signatures for a district judge candidate’s nominating petition. He was originally charged with multiple felony counts of forgery under MCL 168.937 of the Election Code. This is a felony punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000.00, and/or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. The trial court and the Michigan Court of Appeals held, however, that Hall should have been charged with misdemeanor forgery under MCL 168.544c(9) of the Election Code. The Supreme Court will hear mini-oral argument to determine whether to these two criminal provisions of the Election Code conflict, and Hall should therefore be charged with the misdemeanor offense, rather than the felony offense. The court also directed the parties to address whether the rule of lenity applies in this case and whether charging the defendant with felony forgery under MCL 168.937 violates his due process rights because the warning on the nominating petitions lists forgery as a misdemeanor offense.
Blogs
