Clemency sought for murder convict
Ohio students, Innocence Project lobby on behalf of Temujin Kensu
Forty-five students in a forensic science class at Oakwood High School outside of Dayton, Ohio, recently sent letters to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urging her to grant clemency to Temujin Kensu.
Kensu was sentenced to life in prison 34 years ago for the murder of Scott Macklem, 21, in the parking lot of St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron; his name then was Frederick Freeman.
The murder occurred at 9 a.m. Nov. 5, 1986.
Whitmer denied Kensu’s request for clemency in December. She commuted the sentences of four men on Dec. 22 who were serving sentences of 20 years to 170 years on firearms or drug charges, none involving violence.
“The American criminal justice system is built on the presumption that any defendant is innocent until proven guilty,” wrote Dasha, one of the students, on Jan. 20. “However, Temujin was not afforded this opportunity. There is no evidence that ties Temujin to the crime. The only physical ev
idence at the scene was a spent bullet casing and a box of shotgun shells with an unidentified fingerprint. The fingerprint was tested and was not a match to Temujin.”
Melinda Wargacki created the forensic science class at the high school 16 years ago, which students have dubbed “CSI Oakwood.” Three years ago, she added Forensic Science II. That’s the class Dasha took.
The absence of any physical evidence linking Kensu to the crime was not the only problem with the trial, according to Paula Randolph, Kensu’s fiancée.
The biggest one was the prosecutor’s failure to place Kensu at the scene of the crime at the time the murder occurred.
A number of witnesses placed him in the Upper Peninsula at the time of the murder, said Randolph, who lives near Grayling.
B. David Sanders of the Innocence Project, a Michigan nonprofit dedicated
to freeing the wrongfully convicted from prison, has been working for more than 10 years to free Kensu. He concurred with Randolph’s assessment in his own letter to Whitmer, dated Jan. 14.
Kensu “physically could not have committed” the murder, Sanders wrote. “Temujin has at least 10 alibi witnesses that place him in Escanaba about 450 miles from the crime scene in Port Huron around the time of the murder.”
That distance represents an eight or nine hour drive.
“The prosecution countered by suggesting that (Kensu) theoretically could have chartered a plane to go commit the murder and return in time to be seen by his alibi witnesses,” according to the University of Michigan Law School’s Innocence Clinic. “The prosecution never offered any actual evidence to support this outlandish theory.”
The prosecutor was Robert H. Cleland, now a judge in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.
The Innocence Clinic, which has freed 23 wrongfully convicted Michigan residents, according to its Facebook page, also made a clemency appeal to Whitmer, claiming Kensu’s actual innocence and risks to his health from COVID-19.
Kensu is currently lodged in Macomb Regional Correctional Facility in Lenox Township.
“He got COVID-19 in the spring,” said Randolph. “We submitted an emergency application for clemency based on his medical conditions. He has had chemo and has a lot of health issues.”
According to the Innocence Clinic, Kensu has a brain tumor, chronic lung disease, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.
“Now, with the outbreak of COVID-19, there is a real chance that this innocent man might die in prison,” said the Clinic on its website.
“He’s really smart,” said Randolph. “He has an eidetic memory. He’s an amazing person, very positive, very upbeat.”
Kensu finds ongoing inspiration in the dozens of people who continue to stand by him, including the Ohio students, said Randolph, who has not seen him in person since the Michigan Department of Corrections closed prisons to visitors in the wake of the pandemic.
“If he had pleaded guilty, he would have been released two decades ago,” Randolph said.
Why didn’t Kensu plead guilty?
“He believed the system would work,” Randolph said. “He never dreamt he would be convicted for something he didn’t do.”
Kensu’s attorney, David Dean, was later disbarred for drug abuse, Randolph said.
“His attorney asked him for drugs,” she said. “He was stealing stuff out of his storage unit.”
Unless Whitmer changes her mind, Kensu’s best hope for clemency rests with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which is reviewing his case.
The AG’s office confirmed it had received an application from the Innocence Clinic, which is acting as Kensu’ s attorney, to consider his case, but could offer no further details.
The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
“We expect a positive ruling,” said Randolph. “But that could take several months.”
The Ohio student Dasha concluded her letter with a plea for justice, even if delayed.
“Granting clemency to Temujin will show that even though the justice system may have failed,” Dasha wrote, “innocent people will not be forgotten, and wrongs can be righted.”