DETROIT – Many people strongly believe Temujin Kensu could not have committed the murder for which he’s done decades of hard time. And now, a big setback for Kensu and those who have committed time and energy to try to prove his innocence and gain his release.
Kensu (Aka Fred Freeman) has been behind bars for 36 long years, and any glimmer of hope he’s had has completely gone away with a denial letter from the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU).
“The question is not whether he’s innocent,” said David Sanders with the non-profit group Proving Innocence. “That’s obvious. The question is, why is he still in prison, in a cell after 36 years? That’s the question.”
Sanders knows Kensu’s story firsthand on how he’s spent decades in prison without any evidence tying him to the murder of 20-year-old Scott Macklem in 1986.
“Kensu has a mountain of evidence not heard by the jury, much of which was heard in the court of appeals,” Sanders said.
Multiple groups rallying for Kensu’s release were disappointed that the Conviction Integrity Unit recently denied his application, saying he doesn’t meet the standard to be released. Something that Congressman Andy Levin disagrees with.
“I have immense respect for our Attorney General,” said Levin. “There seems to be a fairly narrow scope here of the question of whether there’s new evidence that hasn’t been looked at as opposed to whether this could have been mistaken in the first place.”
Michigan CIU claims that there is no new evidence has been presented that can prove his innocence, completely ignoring the many people that testified he was in the Upper Peninsula nowhere near St. Clair Community College when the murder happened.
“Most defendants would be lucky to have one or two alibi witnesses,” Sanders said. “He’s got almost a dozen. So, discounting that witness as new evidence is just incredible to us,” Sanders insisted.
“I think there’s a sense that the county prosecutor and people that were involved at the time would have to come to an agreement that they were wrong,” Levin said. “But I don’t think St. Clair County folks will do that in this case.”
Local 4 received another brief statement from the Attorney Generals office: