Re-Trial - Day 1

Rev. Pinkney's attys'. motion for a jury of
one's peers was denied by the Berrien County
courthouse.

The public was not allowed in the courtroom
where jury selection was taking place, but was
ushered to an upstairs room for video viewing.

Not only were they not able to view the
jury box, but the sound and picture cut out
fairly often.

The jury pool was 70+.

Rev. Pinkney's re-trial begins tomorrow, may
last 2 weeks, and has an all white jury.

Thank you for considering attending (begins 8:30am) -
Rev. Edward Pinkney, 269-925-0001

Legal fee donations to:
BANCO
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

Pinkney Re-Trial Begins Tues. March 13

On February 26, 2007 I drove to Lansing with a group
of supporters and filed a complaint with the FBI against
Berrien County Sherrif's Dept. Sgt. Detective Dannefelt
who bribed 3 witnesses during my trial last year which
ended in a hung jury.

*******************************************************
March 6th there will be an evidentiary hearing at the
Berrien County Courthouse at 8:30 AM for the
presentation of the findings for the challenge, filed
in an earlier motion (January 25), that minorities are
systematically underrepresented on Berrien County
juries. The racial composition of juries in Berrien
County are rarely more than 1 in 30 potential jurors
Black, although Blacks are 15.5% of the population
of the county. The Judge did not release the tens of
thousands of jury ques­tionnaires from the last three
years to analyze statistically the racial composition
of the juries in Berrien County until February 16th.
Judge Butzbaugh should rule that a delay for my
trial is in order until the system can be fixed and
that there is adequate representation of Blacks on
the Berrien County juries. Judge Butzbaugh, however,
has already stated that the trial will go on as
scheduled.

Important: The Berrien County Prosecutors will hold
my re-trial beginning on Tuesday March 13, 2007, 8:45am.
Please attend if you can.

Thank you for your consideration,
Rev. Edward Pinkney, 269-925-0001

Legal fee donations to:
BANCO
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

Southern California Support

KPFK Radio: Black Community Under Attack in Benton Harbor Michigan

Support the grassroots of Benton Harbor’s work for justice and peace and against racism, corruption, police brutality and a criminal “injustice” system. Stop the attempts to criminalize grassroots leader Rev. Edward Pinkney.

Support from: KPFK (90.7 FM in Southern California, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara) radio’s “Sojourner Truth” hosted by Margaret Prescod, has been giving frequent coverage to the situation in Benton Harbor. Tune in Tuesday mornings from 7-8 am or listen live or anytime on line at www.kpfk.org, click on Sojourner Truth.

Support

Reminder: Your attendance would be very much appreciated on Friday, February 16, 9am, Berrien County Courthouse, 811 Port St., St. Joseph (just over the bridge from Benton Harbor).

There will be a hearing before Berrien County Judge Butzbaugh on these issues:

A motion in limine to prevent the prosecutor from presenting evidence regarding ballots and applications that were not possessed by me; another motion in limine to prevent the prosecutor from stating that it was illegal to possess ballot applications; a motion for discovery and other motions in limine to prevent the prosecutor from presenting statements from unidentified persons regarding alleged payments of $5 in exchange for votes.

As those of you who have attended other hearings know, it's almost a surrealistic experience to see how this courthouse operates.

Rev. Edward Pinkney
269-925-0001, anytime

YouTube video