(formerly known as Frederick Freeman)

Temujin Kensu (known as Frederick Freeman prior to his conversion to Buddhism) was wrongfully convicted of the shotgun killing of Scott Macklem in a college parking lot in Port Huron, Michigan on November 5, 1986. He has now served more than 23 years behind bars for a crime the evidence shows he did not commit.

Temujin Kensu is actually – not technically – innocent of the crime. As confirmed by at least 10 credible alibi witnesses, at the time of the murder he was in the Upper Peninsula in Rock, Michigan, 20 miles north of Escanaba and about 450 miles from the crime scene in Port Huron. In addition, there was absolutely no evidence at the crime scene – documentary, forensic, or physical – that connected Teminjun to the crime. No murder weapon was produced. No gunshot residue was found on his clothing. An ammunition box found at the scene contained a fingerprint not belonging to him. Police conducted a several-hour search of his house, trailer, and property and found nothing incriminating. Moreover, Temujin and his primary alibi witness have both passed polygraphs administered by respected former Michigan State Police polygraphers.

Temujin Kensu was wrongly convicted of murder due to a shocking failure of our criminal justice system. He was the victim of a combination of factors, including unprofessional and faulty police work, admitted perjury by a jailhouse snitch, an overly aggressive prosecutor, erroneous identification by witnesses caused by suggestive police procedures, and a court-appointed defense attorney who was cocaine-addicted, incompetent, and had an undisclosed conflict of interest with the lead detective in the case. Temujin literally drowned in a “perfect storm” of failures of our criminal justice system.

For more information, click the Read more link. Updates are added in succession, so the most up-to-date information can be found by scrolling to the end of the article.

For more information on this case:

Complete Kensu Video Series

Why He is Actually Innocent

What Others Say About the Kensu Case 

You may write Temujin at:

Dec 11, 2008

A'miko Kensu states that "According to Granholm's office we can expect a decision on the Clemency sometime in January or the first of February." She also gives a correction to the article, that though the parole board's earlier decision was made after receiving a psychological report on Temujin, no statements were made in the report that he was denied clemency because of it. The board stated that it is not their job to second guess the decision of juries.

Feb 19, 2009

Granholm's Office had said to expect a decision on Temujin's clemency in January or by the first of February. So far, there is no news.

The effort has been aided by Ross Parker, former Chief Assistant Attorney at the Department of Justice in Easter Michigan, at the request of Proving Innocence. Ross has sent three letters to the Governor and has spoken to the attorney assigned to the request for clemency. He is also considering strategy for the habeas aspect. He is optimistic that one of their efforts will eventually bear fruit.

US Senator Carl Levin and US Representative Bart Stupak have also indicated their support.

April 8, 2009 - Gov. Granholm has Denied Temujin Kensu's Appeal for Clemency

A close look at Granholm's record shows, with one exception, that she maintains her philosophy of not "second guessing juries". In other words, she will grant clemency when there is a drastic change in the convicted person's status, such as a terminal medical prognosis. A clemency appeal based on problems with the original court case appears to be a very long shot.

For information about Temujin's specific case, see this article. 

February 2010 Update

On February 10th, Judge Hood gave an order today making it official that Ross Parker is Temujin's advisory counsel. In the order she references Proving Innocence and Temujin's innocence. You can read the order here.

After Bill Proctor had a meeting with Granholm's legal advisors, along with Ross Parker, Dave Moran of the Michigan Innocence Clinic and Donna McKneelen of the Cooley Michigan Innocence Project, the Michigan Innocence Project decided to do a thorough review of the case. We are welcoming their expertise and looking forward to their findings.

October 14, 2010 Update

Kensu's Murder Conviction Overturned!!!

October 14, 2010. After almost 25 years of incarceration and maintaining his innocence, United States District Judge Denise Page Hood issued a 52 page "Opinion & Order Conditionally Granting the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus" to Temujin Kensu. It concludes:

It is hereby ordered that petitioner's application for writ of habeas corpus is conditionally granted, unless the state takes action to afford petitioner a new trial within ninety (90) days of the date of this opinion. If no appeal is taken, otherwise, within ninety (90) days after any appellate avenues are exhausted and a mandate issued, petitioner may apply for a writ ordering respondent to release him from custody forthwith.

The success rate of habeas petitions is worth noting. 98% of all petitions are rejected on procedural grounds or lack of merit. 2% are either remanded back to the State courts for further proceedings "or far less frequently, resolved favorably to the prisoner on the merits outright"¹. With these odds that a petition of this nature would succeed, it only underscores how severe a miscarriage of justice this was and how it took an authority outside of the state system to objectively look at this case and see it for the travesty of justice that it was.

While the petition brought up many points in which Judge Hood saw no merit, in these she did:             Judge Denise Hood

1. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

a. Obstruction of Petitioner’s Right to Testify in his own Defense

b. Failure to Call Michelle Woodworth (his main alibi witness)

2. Prosecutorial Misconduct

a. Jailhouse Informant’s Concealment of Promises (Philip Joplin, who made up a Kensu confession in exchange for leniency)

3. Ineffective Assistance of Appellate Counsel

It is with incredible joy and excitement that we share this news with you. However, the wheels of justice can turn very slowly. Sadly, this does not mean that he will immediately be set free. The Michigan Attorney General's office has 90 days to appeal and Temujin could face retrial.  A'Miko, Temujin's wife said she hoped that Granholm would use Hood's ruling to justify Temujin's release regardless of the attorney general's appeal.

The 52 page ruling can be downloaded and read in it's entirety.  Download Opinion and Order Granting Habeas Corpus

Some articles on this fantastic news!

Associated Press The Metro Times The FreePress

December

In one of her final decisions, Gov. Granholm denies Kensu's request for commutation

Acting in accord with the recommendation of Michigan's Parole and Commutation Board, Gov. Granholm denied Temujin Kensu's request for commutation. Most requests for commutation of sentence have to do with reasons to shorten a guilty person's sentence, such as ill health after serving years in prison. Kensu requested clemency based on innocence. Consequently, the 26 hour hearing over two days was an effort to retry him with none of the rules of law that keep a court process orderly. At the original trial, the well executed plan of the prosecution was based on character assassination + possible/improbable theory = guilty, with no regard to the standard "evidence beyond a reasonable doubt". At the Parole and Commutation Board, that standard is not required.

Temujin's Habeas Still his best Shot

The granting of Temujin's Writ of Habeas Corpus in which Judge Hood overturned Temujin's 24 year old verdict remains his best ticket home. After that decision, the request for clemency from the Governor was seen as a way of getting Temujin out of prison earlier and aborting a drawn out process at tax payer's expense. The State of Michigan, of course, is appealing the decision, which is what could take years. It was the anticipated response.  It is unusual for the prosecutor's office to acquiesce to such a decision and let the person go. However, the reality is they know they have no case. It has been picked apart over these two decades and no reasonable person would expect their "evidence" to stand up under scrutiny a second time around. No self-respecting judge would allow the charachter assassination that previously took place so prominently, turning the trial into a circus, to be repeated. The prosecutor's office will not admit they made a mistake. They have no case. Their only hope is that the appeal will strike down Judge Hood's decision, something we are told does not happen very often.

The complete Kensu file.