The Voiceless Press

What does the Voiceless Press mean? It is Eddie’s way of speaking to you…of sharing his thoughts with you regarding his conviction based on fraudulent testimony…and subsequent isolation in the SuperMax…locked down 23 hours a day, no email, one 15 minute phone call a month, no visits allowed…a facility built to break the spirit of the prisoner…to isolate him from his family and friends…to truly be voiceless and forgotten.

We will use this column to share Eddie’s words with you, and to show you different types of injustices perpetrated by the BOP daily..new stories, magazing articles..other inmates stories… Rarely does the public get to hear from someone in this type of isolation, but it’s important to know what Eddie’s life is like right now…

New letter from Eddie:

This new day began just as the last one did with the echos of voices that bounce off the bare cold concrete walls saying chow trays. We all are like hostages in a third world country that does all it can to tear down the human spirit. We sometimes wonder why God is playing this cruel joke on us as we explore the solitude of our day to day existence.  The men and women who are truly innocent of crimes that Government or state are  placed here through witnesses who are paid to say things or corrupt cops who planted evidence to advance personal careers all the way to prosecutors seeking to rise up in political positions.

The new justice machine  has grown into a job security factor vs. the idea it was supposed to founded on rehabilitation and turned into a system of money. The states are now given large sums of financial aid from the federal government to pay to house millions of  prisoners in cells without any sort of rehabilitation. The money goes to house people in cells until their release date and then these people return to society without any awareness of skills that could help them build new lives.

The criminal justice system has turned into a strong machine that is based on the jobs of all of those who work in the Corrections field.  The machine has grown so big and powerful they even try to to limit one’s free speech and basic human right issues under the broad title of security. What should they fear about a man or woman who seeks to talk to family or their friends who support them in their fight for justice? What do they fear in allowing their stories to be told? I have had more issues from the ADX regarding communication and my story than most will ever understand.

I risk retaliation for just writing my thoughts down and hoping someone hears the sound of my pain in the words I write. The whole goal of any SuperMax is to break the spirit and limit one’s contact with the outside world. They read all incoming and outgoing mail. If you don’t have an attorney, you can’t discuss your case without the ADX reading it, copying the information and re-building their case against you.

I have written so many groups about pro bono legal help, but most of those organizations only take on DNA related cases. The proof for my case is on the video, and shows that the biggest recipient of a plea deal could not have possibly heard what he stated in court. But it’s almost impossible finding legal representation when you don’t have money. There is no case once this person’s testimony is refuted, but getting that to court is difficult, to say the least. One of my witnesses got beat up while he was held in a little county jail waiting to testify on my behalf. Nobody ever heard about that because he ended up not testifying.  I saw him at court and he had a black eye.  I wonder where all of the lawyers are who still care about helping people find justice…since not all who seek justice have lots of funds to pay for legal services badly needed!

posted 05/16/10

Here is Eddie’s letter:

I sit in my cell today at 6:00 am in the Federal Supermax ADX for a crime I am innocent of.  I get up every day and try to keep hope alive with a positive outlook on life.

This is not easy to do….but I try.  I sit here trying to turn an injustice into justice that has been long in coming! I understand this fight for my freedom will not be easy and only through the love and support of those who care for justice will I ever even have a chance to go home to my family and friends.

I sometimes read how people always say how easy people like me have it in prison.  But, the sad part to that statement is that you never hear about the innocent men and women who are forced to endure years of injustices day after day in our criminal justice system.

When you do hear about someone may not be guilty on television, you always see the prosecutors saying this is a bad person.  When it’s proven in court witnesses lied and the facts are skewed, the same prosecutor still says the prisoner is a liar.  I wonder why no one ever questions if it is the prosecutor who is the one who uses dirty tactics to win cases? There is a case presently before the United States Supreme Court to see if prosecutors can be sued in civil court for not acting in the interest of justice, but for their own best interest.  I sit here and wonder why this had to go the United States Supreme Court at all.

Lady Justice is supposed to be blind and for all.  When the state or Government protects those who are supposed to protect the “whole” public and just the prosecutors who feel they don’t have to act in the interest of justice for “all”. Then there will never be true justice since when any prosecutor is protected by the law when he acts in his own interest…how can there be balance in the legal system?

The case I am fighting now was not in the interest of justice.  It was a political move by a prosecutor’s office that had an agenda.  I was just another voiceless, poor prisoner who could be used to advance the United States Attorney’s Office for political activities.

What would you do if you had 20,000 people marching, protesting in a racially charged environment? The United States Government calls Head U.S. Attorney Donald Washington and puts pressure on him to act to try to get control of the whole Jena-6 issue that was becoming more heated as the days passed.

 So he tried to get control of local events and show he is on top of the racial events in the area. He does what is in his self political interests.  A little bit about Jena-6…

The story was the local white youths supposedly put nooses in a tree at the school months before the attack.  The issue grew out of control into a major racial issue that kept growing until in September 2007 when 20,000 black activists marched to protest the handling of the incident.

The whole area I lived in was so charged with racial issues from blacks and whites that it became all you heard about.  I lived in a maximum security federal prison that held 1500 prisoners…approximately 200 were white.

The prison sites right there were all the Jena 6 news flashed on the prison T.V so whites always seemed to feel as if they were at risk in that racially unbalanced prison.  My case occurred on April 20, 2007. The whole time before my sad issue happened and after the whole Jena- story was growing and building racial tension on the streets and in prison.

So you have increasing political pressure, 20,000 blacks marching and protesting, and the whole nation watching to see how Mr. Washington was going to be rectify this situation.They had to act and not more than 36 days later after the march, I was indicted at a grand jury by Mr. Washington’s office to make them look like they were cracking down on whites.

This act was not in the best interest of the whole community. It was done in the best interest of Mr. Donald Washington’s office to try and calm the public and ease the racial tension.  I am a victim of a politically motivated prosecution. I was only viewed as a poor prisoner who could be used as a tool and sadly no one cared if it caused me years in prison for a crime I acted in self defense on, and the pain it caused my family…my friends…Derrick Sparks’ family….and Derrick Sparks friends.

How the government can turn a black racist attacker into a victim is total madness. Many lives were ruined because of one man’s actions.  Not only was the attacker turned into a victim the government allowed inmates to come to court and give statements to a jury…and  never told the jury these inmates were getting huge sentence reductions for their fabricated testimony..in fact, they denied it in the trial, yet the truth is on this site.

When you review the site, you will start to see a pattern of people acting in their own interests. The inmates tell stories and get to go home years early so my question is: can you trust any story a person gets paid by the Government to make and that payment is hidden from the jury?

I wonder if the jury would have bought their stories if they would have known the government would allow these same prisoners to go home for their statements. I honestly think the jury would have seen through the inmates stories since the better story they told, the more years the government gave them off of old prison sentences.

Who had an interest to lie? Who had an interest to charge me in court? The total fallout behind these people’s actions is that justice was not served. My story is not the only one like this…other prisoners are railroaded in the United States all the time.

The public does not see these stories on the local news since it’s not politically correct. These stories are hidden and only through the hard work of loved ones and friends do stories of prisoner injustices ever come light.

I sit in my lonely cell and wonder why God allowed me to make it that day? I have learned a lot from out of all of this and have now taken steps to change my life into a more positive way of living. I am learning the truth in life and the value of life since I was so close to so much pain.  It opened my eyes to want to change my life so that I can help others not make the same mistakes …so that they never have to live as I was forced to.

I am so grateful for all of my supporters and I thank you for wanting to help get my story out. …not the made up story the government tried to tell. The truth of what happens when people act in their own self interest. This has been a major struggle to turn ideas into real life actions. All of the love and support of you good hearted people have given me hope in a dark place in my life, and I know one day I will be free.

                                                                                                              Thank you,

                                                                                                              Edgar Branch

P.S.     My hope is that this website will bring stories of injustice to the public, and that I will be able to help others caught up in the same unjust circumstances.