Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law Review - Volume 33 | 2016 | Winter Issue

DISTINGUISHED BRIEF The Distinguished Brief Award is given in recognition of the most scholarly briefs filed before the Michigan Supreme Court, as determined by a panel of eminent jurists. Three briefs are chosen each year and printed in the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law Review. To preserve the author’s style, the brief has been reprinted in its entirety, exactly as submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court.

INTRODUCTION PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Petitioner-Appellant, v.

PAUL CHARLES SEEWALD, Respondent-Appellee.

The Attorney General charged the defendant with conspiring to commit a legal act in an illegal manner, a five-year felony, after he and a campaign co-worker agreed to falsely sign nominating petitions as the circulators in an effort to get former Congressman Thaddeus McCotter’s name on the ballot for reelection. After the case was bound over for trial, the circuit court dismissed the felony charge, and the Court of Appeals later affirmed that decision. Thereafter, the Supreme Court granted the Attorney General’s request to appeal, and the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan filed the instant brief as Amicus Curiae in support of the People on appeal. The Amici argued that the prosecutor has broad discretion in deciding what charges to bring when the evidence supports both misdemeanors and felonies, and that the circuit and lower appellate courts had both erred by interpreting the conspiracy statute in a manner that effectively nullified the felony conspiracy charge. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed.