HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2021.09.29 - 34888BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
September 29, 2021
MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION #21-356
Sponsored By: Robert Hoffman, Charles Cavell, Eileen Kowall
IN RE: Support for Temujin Kensu
Chairperson and Members of the Board:
WHEREAS in 1987, Temujin Kensu, also known as Frederic Freeman, was convicted of the murder of a
college student in Port Huron, Michigan and was sentenced to life without parole; and
WHEREAS Kensu remains in prison, despite the facts that he could prove, including eyewitness statements, he
was hundreds of miles away in the Upper Peninsula hours before and after the murder, an ironclad alibi, the
absence of any physical evidence, including DNA, that would link him to the murder; and
WHEREAS since the conviction new evidence has come to light, ajailhouse snitch recanted his testimony that
Kensu had confessed and a federal judge overturned the sentence after finding that Kensu's lawyer provided
ineffective counsel by never calling a crucial alibi witness, Kensu has passed a polygraph test, and serious
inconsistencies have been revealed in the reports drafted by the detectives on the case; and
WHEREAS since the 1980s, more than 2,000 innocent people have been exonerated and released from prison
based on new evidence and DNA testing uncovered by advocates working on behalf of the wrongfully
convicted; and
WHEREAS in 2019, the State of Michigan implemented the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) that is modeled
after Wayne County Prosecutor's Office's Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate innocence claims. It is one of
only a handful of state -run units in the nation and is Kensu's last opportunity for freedom; and
WHEREAS in Kensu's case there is no forensic evidence absolving him, such as DNA results, which illustrates
the obstacles in undoing a questionable conviction when there is no forensic evidence to absolve the defendant;
and
WHEREAS CIU investigators have been examining Kensu's case for months and if determined he is innocent,
it remains unclear whether the county prosecutor will agree to move to vacate his conviction. With no clear
precedent on the issue, the Michigan's Attorney General cannot say how such an impasse will be resolved; and
WHEREAS the Oakland County Board of Commissioners supports the efforts of the late Senator Carl Levin,
who believed Kensu was innocent, along with the Supreme Court Chief Justice McCormick, who represented
Kensu when she ran the Michigan Innocence Clinic, former Chief .lustice Thomas Brennan, attorneys,
journalists, and independent investigators who challenge the theory and raise critical questions about Kensu's
conviction.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners supports the
efforts to critically examine and evaluate the evidence of Kensu's conviction, including other's claims of
innocence, in the event of a wrongful conviction.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds is requested to forward
copies of this adopted resolution to the Governor of the State of Michigan, the Attorney General of Michigan,
the St. Clair County Prosecutor's Office, the State of Michigan's Conviction Integrity Unit, and the Michigan
Innocence Clinic.
Chairperson, the following Commissioners are sponsoring the foregoing Resolution; Robert Hoffman, Charles
Cavell, Eileen Kowall.
Date:
Har. Chambers, Deputy County Executive II
Date:
Lisa Brown, County Clerk / Register of Deeds
COMMITTEE TRACKING
2021-09-02 Full Board - introduce and refer to Committee
2021-09-14 Legislative Affairs & Government Operations - recommend to Board
2021-09-29 Full Board
VOTE TRACKING
Motioned by Commissioner Yolanda Smith Charles seconded by Commissioner Penny Luebs to adopt the
attached Resolution: Support for Temujin Kensu.
Yes: David Woodward, Michael Gingell, Michael Spisz, Karen Joliat, Kristen Nelson, Eileen Kowall,
Christine Long, Philip Weipert, Gwen Markham, Angela Powell, Thomas Kuhn, Charles Moss, Marcia
Gershenson, William Miller III, Yolanda Smith Charles, Charles Cavell, Penny Luebs, Janet Jackson, Gary
McGillivray, Robert Hoffman (20)
No: None (0)
Abstain: None (0)
Absent: (0)
The Motion Passed.
ATTACHMENTS
None
STATE OF MICHIGAN)
COUNTY OF OAKLAND)
I, Lisa Brown, Clerk of the County of Oakland, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is a true and
accurate copy of a resolution adopted by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on September 29, 2021,
with the original record thereof now remaining in my office.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Circuit Court at Pontiac,
Michigan on Wednesday, September 29, 2021.
v r'iil &Vey.
Lisa Brown, Oakland County Clerk/Register ofDeeds