Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic is calling on state lawmakers to fix a hole in the election code that resulted in the conviction of Benton Township activist Edward Pinkney for election fraud being tossed by the Michigan Supreme Court. In a statement, Sepic notes the justices “did not in any way disturb the finding of the jury that Pinkney changed the signature dates on the recall petitions” in an attempt to recall former Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower. The activist changed the dates on signatures to make it appear they had been collected within the timeframe required to put the recall before voters. Pinkney’s conviction was overturned on the technicality that the statute under which he was found guilty was not a substantive law section, but rather simply a penalty section. Sepic notes the Berrien County judge and the Michigan Court of Appeals both saw it differently than the state Supreme Court.
