Michigan’s Marquette Branch Prison, isolated in the Upper Peninsula. It
houses maximum-security inmates at Level 5 along with minimum security Level 1
prisoners, the Level to which Rev. Pinkney has been assigned. -
He is serving a term of 2.5 to 10 years on five counts of “forgery under
the Michigan election law.”
Rev Pinkney;
"I now have an army to help fight Berrien County,” Pinkney continued. “When
I arrived at Jackson state prison on Dec. 15, I met several hundred people from
Detroit, Flint, Kalamazoo, & Grand Rapids. Some people recognized me. There
was an outstanding amount of support given by the prison inmates. When I was
transported to Marquette Prison it took two days. The prisoners knew who I was.
One of the guards looked me up on the internet and said, ‘Who would believe
Berrien County is this racist.’
“Tell everyone they can jpay.com me as I will write them back. We must
continue doing things to keep the pressure on this corrupt system. The
conditions are impossible for a person to understand unless you are here — the
inhuman conditions, the transportation is another money maker.
This is big business. Nobody will understand what this country has become.
We are living in a time where the people must take control or they will crush
us. Keep the struggle alive. Who would believe the prison system is a money
maker. The prison system transportation system is how the prison is stealing
money from the people, plus the food is not really food. The clothes are nothing
but summer clothing, the shoes are rubber and the sox you must wear three pairs
as if they were one.
JPay allows Michigan prisoners to send and receive emails and photos for a
cost of 1 cent per page. It is also used to send money to prisoners to allow
them to purchase food and health products within the prison. To sign up for JPay
to communicate with Rev. Pinkney, go to
https://www.jpay.com/login.aspx. New
users must first input the prisoner’s ID number. Rev. Pinkney’s number is
294671, then enter information regarding their email addresses and method of
payment.
Rev. Pinkney can also receive letters at the following address: Rev. Edward
Pinkney, #294671, 1960 U.S. Hwy. 41 South Marquette, MI 49855.
Motions filed Nov. 11, 2014, well prior to Pinkney’s sentencing, are
scheduled to be heard Tues. Feb. 24, 2015 at 1 p.m. in the Berrien County
courthouse, at 811 Port Street, St. Joseph, MI 49085. Rev. Pinkney’s defense
committee is asking his supporters to turn out en masse.
The hearing was originally scheduled for Jan. 15, 2015, and should actually
have been held prior to Rev. Pinkney’s sentencing. It is clear that Judge
Schrock is deliberately delaying this process.
The motions include one for a directed verdict, which calls on the judge to
overturn the jury decision and find that there was no evidence to convict him, a
motion for a new trial based on the violation of Rev. Pinkney’s right to
impartial jurors, and a motion for bond pending appeal. Among other issues, the
motions cite improper charging in the case, based on an Oct. 23, 21o4 Court of
Appeals decision in People v. Hall, which found that election petition
violations are misdemeanors, not felonies, and the presence of juror Gail
Freehling on the panel that convicted Rev. Pinkney.
Pinkney juror Gail
Freehling.
Freehling is well-acquainted with the County Clerk, Sharon Tyler, a key
witness, as well as other parties seeking Pinkney’s conviction, and did not
disclose those facts during voir dire.
