People v. Woods

Updated Copy September 1, 2000 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.