Court Rulings

In her ruling on his 2010 habeas (Fredrick Thomas Freeman v. Jan Trombley), Chief Judge Denise Page Hood stated that Kensu (Freeman) made a credible claim of actual innocence and he should be freed or given a new trial.  In that decision, Hood concluded that Kensu was denied his constitutional right to testify, his defense counsel provided ineffective counsel and failed to call his primary alibi witness, and that Prosecutor Robert Cleland was guilty of misconduct in using the perjured testimony of a jailhouse snitch that he had to know was false and that testimony was crucial to obtaining the wrongful conviction.  Unfortunately, the Sixth Circuit overruled Hood on purely procedural grounds (tardy filing) having nothing to do with his actual innocence.  Further appeals to this date have not been successful.