MEMPHIS, Tenn.– A jailed Memphis activist has a new attorney on her case but she still won’t be getting out.
Pam Moses was the topic of discussion in court Wednesday but she wasn’t there after reportedly coming down with COVID.
Her new attorney Bede Anyanwu says she’s in jail and sick.
“Her lupus medication is not given to her and now she has COVID and so nobody is treating her,” Anyanwu said.
She hired Anyanwu after complaining that her court appointed attorney at trial did not represent her interests.
Moses faces up to eight years in jail for violating probation and forgery, perjury and tampering with evidence charges related to illegal voting.
Anyanwu says Moses also needs bail so she can care her young son and parents and no bail doesn’t fit the charge.
“The allegation of what she was sentenced is not a Class A or Class B felony. It’s a Class D,” he said.
But Judge Mark Ward, who read off several violent offenses made by Moses in the past, denied the bail request.
“Here is what the probabtion report says about Ms Moses. She has displayed threatening, aggressive or violent behavior in the community during her lifetime,” Judge Ward said.
Moses who spoke with WREG a few months ago believes she is being targeted because of her outspokenness and her desire to run for office
“I maintain I did nothing but complain on public officials that were corrupt. That’s all I did. I complained about them and I put it in writing,” she said.
Her supporters like fellow Memphis activists Karen McGee and Anon Price agree.
“This is a political season and Pamela Moses is a political prisoner,” McGee said.
They have been holding candlelight vigils outside the jail where Moses is being held.
“It seems more than a little bit of a coincidence that someone who helped register more than 6,000 with Rise Up Memphis is locked up for charges of voting or having any cases against them for voting. It just smacks or retaliation,” Price said.
Regarding Moses’s claims of not getting medical attention, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office told WREG all inmates have access to daily medical care.
Judge Ward said he will consider Moses’ request for bond at her sentencing on January 21.