Legal experts at the University of Michigan Law School and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School have joined Proving Innocence in concluding that Temujin Kensu is an innocent man who should be granted clemency by Governor Jennifer Granholm.  This new development adds more momentum to the many citizens seeking an end to one of Michigan’s most appalling miscarriages of justice.

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.  Numerous witnesses have testified that he was 450 miles away in Escanaba on the day of the shooting.  Both Kensu and his primary alibi witness have passed polygraphs administered by former law enforcement examiners that show he had no part in the murder.  Kensu has now served more than 23 years behind bars for a crime the evidence shows he did not commit.

In a letter to the Governor’s legal advisor, Bridget McCormack and David Moran, Co-Directors of the Michigan Innocence Clinic of the University of Michigan Law School, stated that we “.  .  .  firmly believe that Mr. Kensu could not have murdered Scott Macklem”.  That letter goes on to indicate that Mr. Kensu was convicted despite compelling evidence that he was in Escanaba the day Macklem was murdered in Port Huron, that the trial was rife with prosecutorial misconduct, and that Mr. Kensu was represented by an incompetent and drug-addicted defense attorney.

Professor Ronald Bretz from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, recently stated, “In this case, I am convinced that Temujin Kensu did not commit this murder and had no role in it. He is truly innocent and I encourage the Governor to grant clemency.”

Donna McKneelen, Co-Director of the Cooley Innocence Project at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, also examined the Kensu case and is now on record calling for his release.  “It’s time for action to release this wholly innocent man so he can return to his family and friends”, McKneelen said.

Proving Innocence (PI) made the wrongful conviction of Temujin Kensu its number one priority in 2009.  Speaking about the case, David Sanders of PI said, “There was not a shred of evidence that Temujin committed this murder. The jury got it terribly wrong because it was misled by an improper prosecution that demonized the defendant, a police force that targeted him from the outset and conducted no real investigation, and a defense counsel who offered no defense”.

Ross Parker, a retired career federal prosecutor who is now Kensu’s defense counsel, spoke encouragingly about the prospects for clemency: “We have former municipal police officers and judges, a retired Supreme Court Chief Justice, a retired Michigan State Police officer, former FBI special agents, and a retired Michigan State Police polygraph expert -- among others – all concluding that Temujin Kensu is wholly innocent.  Now these prominent legal and law enforcement experts in our state have examined the evidence and are on record that this is a wrongful conviction.  There could not be a more persuasive case for the Governor to free an innocent man who has spent almost a quarter century unjustly imprisoned.”

 More details on the Temujin Kensu case, including a series of video newscasts and newspaper articles, can be found on Proving Innocence’s website at www.provinginnocence.net.

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Proving Innocence is a nonprofit organization that helps free people who are wrongfully incarcerated by providing investigators to substantiate claims of innocence; producing video documentaries of wrongful convictions to educate the public and policy makers; advocating for reforms in the criminal justice system; and helping exonerees connect with post-release services to facilitate their successful return to society.