WEBVTT - #247 Jason Flom with Ken Wyniemko 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:06.040 On April thirtieth, nineteen ninety four, a man in a 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:08.719 nylon stocking mass broke into a twenty eight year old 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:12.320 woman's home in Michigan while she slept. He blindfolded and 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.080 raped her over the course of several hours before leaving. 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:17.840 Since the victim was blindfold and it had only caught 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.599 a few glimpses of her attacker, the composite sketch she 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.439 created with investigators was deemed only sixty percent accurate when 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.560 the sketch hit the media. A bowling alley manager named 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.760 Ken win Nemko was named by a disgruntled X as 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.280 a potential culprit. Ken had recently ejected an off duty 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:37.560 cop from his bowling alley for being drunken disorderly, which 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.720 was not taken kindly by the officer's friends on the force. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.519 With this grudge looming, and despite Ken not matching the 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.600 physical description, detectives acted on this dubious tip and manipulated 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:53.000 a lineup to produce his identification. DNA testing was available, 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:56.320 but not done yet. Even the rology testing of the 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:59.680 biological evidence from the attack was again not a match 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:03.400 for Ken. However, while Can awaited trial in jail, the 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.600 assistant prosecutor offered his cell made a deal to join 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.880 the lead detective in giving false testimony that Ken had 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.479 confessed to the rape. His hastily appointed defense attorney did 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.520 not have time to prepare, and between the false testimony, 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.839 the shaky composite sketch, and the bogus lineup, the jury 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.640 ignored the exculpatory roology and sent Ken away to prison 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:26.760 for forty to sixty years. With the help of the 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.120 Cooley Innocence Project in Michigan, Ken was finally able to 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:33.640 obtain the biological evidence, including an unopened rape kit, to 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.960 find out who had really committed this horrific crime nearly 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:54.640 a decade prior. This is wrongful conviction. Welcome back to 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.480 wrongful conviction. Today's story is one that I've heard whispered 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:02.880 about ever since it happened, in hush tones in the 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:07.040 innocence community, where people talk about how this was one 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:11.960 of the worst examples of our criminal legal system. And 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:14.560 also people have talked to me for a long time 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.839 about this man and the incredible work that he's done 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.680 evil from inside the walls of prison. You got to 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.440 hear this story to believe it. And I'm talking about 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:27.640 the man who's on the air with us right now, 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.359 Ken way Namko, thank you for being here. Welcome to 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:32.240 Wronful Conviction. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.800 Jason, it is my pleasure. Thank you for inviting. 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.920 Us, and with him is an awesome character in her 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:41.400 own right. Gail Palmakoff, attorney with the Kooli Innocence Project 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.720 based out of Michigan, where this horrible crime happened. Gail, 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:46.480 first of all, thank you for all the incredible work 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.800 you're doing, and welcome to the show. I'm so glad 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:49.480 to have you here. 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:50.960 Oh, thank you for having me. 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:55.680 So this case goes all the way back to the 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.280 early mid nineties. But Ken, what was your life like 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.600 before you got wrapped up in this well. 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.720 I started with GM right after high school. I was 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:07.640 working with my two brothers and my dad were all 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.200 skilled trade workers. I was married from nineteen seventy five 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.960 to nineteen eighty and my father in law owned a 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:18.200 nightclub and a bowling center in Detroit. It's called Falcon Lanes. 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:20.560 So I was working for a GM during the day 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.560 and I was working at the bowling yelly in nightclub 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.360 at night. Then I went out on my own and 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.799 I was just managing bowling Centers, and I was managing 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.239 at center at the time at Kingswood Lane's in Macomb County, Michigan, 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.040 and that's how this whole incident started. 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.080 So it sounds like you've got a good thing going there, 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.720 managing this bowling alley, a good peaceful life. But here's 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.480 where the seed of this story is planted with you 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.640 and the police, right, so please take us through this. 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:50.880 It was on a Friday night. We had a family 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.160 bowling night. Okay, the parents would bringing their kids in. 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:56.600 We get free pizza everyone, and the place was jammed. 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.800 So I was sitting in my office. One of my waitresses, Kelly, 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.200 came into my office and she says, Kenny, there's a 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.080 guy bowling on Lane twelve. She thought he was drunk, 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.640 and she said that she noticed that the guy had 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.640 two bowling bags. One he had two bowling balls in 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.600 and the other bag he had cans of Miller Lite. 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.480 So I came out of my office and there was 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:18.800 a father, mother, and two kids on Leane eleven and 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.440 this guy was getting an argument with him. So I 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.280 walked down there and I said, excuse me, do these 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.960 two bags belong to you? He says, who the hell 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.279 are you. I said, my name is Kenny. I'm the 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.080 manager's place. I said what's your name? And he said 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.760 my name is John. So I said, well, John, I said, 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:36.520 do you mind if I take a look into the 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:38.800 second bag over here? He said why, what's the problem. 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.520 I said, that's my right, I'm doing my job. Opened 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.120 up the second bag. He hit eleven cans of Miller 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.839 Lite in that bag. So I said, John, do yourself 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:49.839 a favor. I said, take your bulling shoes back to 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:52.719 the counter, get your refunder. You're all done bullings for tonight. 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.920 You brought this beer into my establishment, and that's illegal. 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:57.960 He said, I bought that beer here. I said, John, 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:00.360 I know you're lying to me because we don't sell 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:02.880 canned beer. All the beer that we sell are in bottles. 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:05.400 And I grabbed the bag with the beer in it. 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:07.159 He said, where you go? And that's you know, that's mine. 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:09.119 I said, well, you come back and talk to me tomorrow. John. 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.080 The place is packed. I don't want to argue with you. 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.159 So I got the bag, took any office with me, 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.800 put it on our floor. About ten minutes later, this 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:17.839 guy comes in the office. He said, what do you 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.200 say your name was? I said, my name is ken One. 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:22.360 He said, well, can I just want you to know 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.960 that I'm not leaving here until I get my beer bag. 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.880 And his voice started getting louder and louder. I said, look, John, 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.000 I told you I'm not going to argue with you tonight. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.360 One way or another. You're leaving this building. If you 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:34.200 don't want to leave on your own, I'll throw you out. 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.120 And he said you can't throw me out of here, 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:37.880 and he reached in his pocket and he pulled out 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.120 a putting down to police bands. And I said, you 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:43.600 should know better that you cannot bring alcohol into establishment 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.000 that has a LOOKU license. He said, I'm not leaving 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.120 until I get that beer. So I got up, got 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.000 him in a headlocked and he's still holding on to 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.080 this bag with his bowling balls in it, and I 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.960 started dragging him towards the front door, two double glass 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.279 doors and a vestibule leading out in the parking lot. 0:05:57.520 --> 0:05:59.680 And as I'm dragging him up, he takes the bag 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.040 with a bullying balls and he shatters the glass doors, 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:04.640 dragged him outside, threw him out of parking lot. I 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.120 told him I'll see you later. So on the way back, 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.320 I told one of my porters to get a broom 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:11.960 and sleep up the glass. I go back in the office. 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:15.000 About twenty minutes after that, carry the counterman comes in. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:17.200 He says, Kenny, there's two uniform cops out here whant 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:19.400 to talk to you. So they come in and asked me, 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:21.520 I heard you had a problem over here about a 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:23.720 half hour ago. So I told him the same thing 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:25.800 I just told you. I tried to be as nice 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:27.880 as I could to him, but he didn't want to listen, 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.599 and I repeated to them the same thing I told John. 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:32.599 If he was a cop, you know better than to 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.040 bring alcohol and to establishment that has a liquor license. 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:37.599 His partner says, is your liquor license up to date? 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:39.760 I said, yes, it is. I said it's posted on 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:41.760 the wall behind our bar, where it's supposed to be 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:43.800 by law. And he said, well, do you matter if 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:45.360 I take a look at it. I said no, as 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:46.880 a matter of fact, I'll take a walk with you. 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:49.640 So we walked inside the bar. I pulled a license 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:52.039 off the wall and our shoulder to him. In meantime, 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.000 his partner started walking around the whole bar, up and 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.719 down the lanes, looking around, and he finally came back, 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.719 says everything okay, officer, And he said, well, Kenny, to 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:02.640 be honest with you, and we'll come back to check 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:04.280 on your five or six months down the road, make 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.000 sure you're okay. Is that some kind of a threat 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.200 his partnership. We don't make threats. We keep promises. And 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.160 he walked out the door. So that's how this whole 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:14.800 thing began. I believe. 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.880 Wow, that's such a sinister scenario. Just I mean, I 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:21.960 don't think anybody who wanted to be in your shoes 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.360 at that point. And Gail, I want to turn to 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:26.320 you now. Can you take us back to the crime 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.760 itself and how they managed to get anyone in their 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:31.840 right mind to believe that Ken was involved. 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.280 The basic facts are is that on April thirtieth of 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:39.320 nineteen ninety four, the woman the complainant, had been at 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.720 a party earlier in the day. She came home, She 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:44.480 went to bed at about two am. Later in the morning, 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:48.240 closer to five, she wakes up and there's a masked 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:52.160 man in her room. He had a nylon over his head. 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.520 He went and got underwear out of her drawer, put 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:57.000 panties over her head, and then over the course of 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:00.840 the next couple of hours engaged in multiple full acts 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:06.480 of sexual penetration. She never really saw the perpetrator. She 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.160 said that when he took his mask off, she couldn't 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:12.000 see him, and that when he lifted the mask at all, 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:16.000 she only got glimpses of him. He left, he had 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.120 secured her hands to the bed. She was able to 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.920 get herself extricated. She went to the neighbors sought help. 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.400 She was taken to the hospital. A rape kip was performed. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:29.360 The police got involved in investigation, and on the day 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.920 that this occurred, they took her statements, and she told 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:36.440 the officers that she really did not get a good 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:40.920 look at this perpetrator. He was masked, she was masked. 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.440 They said, can you help with the composite. She didn't 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:45.680 think that she would be very helpful because she didn't 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:46.240 see the man. 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:50.240 She said. At one point, the guy's mask had risen 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:54.240 above his chin. She said he had a deep cleft chin. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:57.480 She could tell he was a smoker at times he 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:01.200 had thought she heard and an inhaler, and she estimated 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.240 that he was about six one six foot two, about 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.920 two hundred and twenty and thirty pounds. I was five 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.679 foot eleven, one hundred and eighty five pounds, never had 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:13.080 a cleft chain in my life. Didn't smoke back then, okay, 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:15.240 And so I smoke until I got to Jackson Prison. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:16.640 Now those are the facts. 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.920 So she gave a composite, and on the composite it's 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:23.040 a sixty percent accurate. She was not able to identify 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:26.360 critical features. He was masked with a nylon. She was 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:29.839 blindfolded with panties that were later secured with a necktie. 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:32.839 But the composite was out in the media and one 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:36.400 of Ken's ex girlfriend, a very disgruntled ex girlfriend, thought 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.880 the composite looked like Ken. Contacted the Clinton Township Police Department, 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:45.120 and that's how Ken gets involved is through the composite. 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.920 This is July fourteenth. I'm home in bed, sleeping by 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:49.720 eight thirty in the morning, and there's a knockout my 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:52.040 front door. So I got up to answer the door 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.160 and there's a young lady setting in my porch and 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:56.079 I said, can I help you? And she said, is 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:58.040 your name Kenny? I said, yes it is. What can 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.400 I do for you? Well? She moved on a side. 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.600 Four playing clothes officers rushed me, attacking me toy threw 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:04.880 me down on the floor in my living room and 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:07.800 handcuffed me behind my back, and I'm rolling around saying, 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.400 what the hell's going up? This woman was a detective 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:12.959 and she told me that they have a warrant for 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.520 my arrest. I'm going to be taken down to the 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:18.079 Mcomb County Jail to be placed in the lineup because 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.960 I'm suspected of being the person that committed to Bee 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.600 I'm Robbie in a rape back in April, and I said, 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.480 what the hell are you talking about? So they took 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:30.199 me down to the McComb County Jail and Detective Oastin 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.000 was the lead detective at the time. He told me 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.480 how was we replaced in a lineup? Because they had 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:37.640 received an anonymous phone call that Ken, when im Goo, 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:40.720 the manager at Kingsworth lanees looks like a deposit that 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.440 was issued in the paper about this woman who was 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:44.560 robbed in a rape. 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.120 So at that point the detectives bring Ken in, they 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.480 put them in a lineup. They bring in the complainant 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:53.440 in the rape case and she's in the lineup room. 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:57.080 She looks at the six folks is unable to identify Ken, 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.920 goes out speaks with members of the prospect Tuter's office. 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:05.280 Comes back in the people in the lineup rass to say, 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.720 I don't remember what the words are, Ken, you probably do. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.160 What time does your husband come home? Right? There are 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.319 six of us, and there are all five guys had mustaches. 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:17.319 I'd never had a mustache in my life. And when 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.720 they first put us in the lineup together, I was 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.720 in number six position. They took her out to talk 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.959 to the prosecutor and her assistant and Detective Osten. During 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:30.160 that time, an officer brought in a riser like a 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:33.400 three inch high riser had a wood. They brought it in. 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.960 They put it under the number two spot. They moved 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:37.439 the guy that was a number two spot to the 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:39.760 number six spot. They moved me and made me stand 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:41.520 in that riser in number two position. 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.079 And after that she says Ken is the one, and 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.480 that's how Ken gets roped into this whole thing. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.160 This episode is under it by AIG, a leading global 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:06.400 insurance company. AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:08.760 is making a positive difference in the lives of its 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.440 employees and in the communities where we work and live. 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.000 In light of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.360 and in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:22.480 justice reform, The AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:27.120 services and other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:38.360 The complainant reported in her written statements that the perpetrator 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:42.240 ejaculated three times, one of which was oral, and with 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:46.000 respect to the oral ejaculation, you wiped her mouth out 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:48.240 with a pair of panties and they were left at 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.280 the scene. The point is is that there was an 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:54.520 enormous amount of biological evidence, including a ratekit, that was 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:58.240 collected after this crime at the hospital that day. 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.720 Some of it was tested, some of it wasn't. But 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:05.400 the biological evidence that was tested was tested using techniques 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.679 that were not the best techniques available sorology testing I'm 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.680 talking about. They didn't use DNA, and furthermore, the testing 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.800 that was done didn't help their case at all because 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.360 it didn't match ken. 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:17.080 Yeah. 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.960 In fact, there was nothing at all that tied came 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.240 to this rape except that composite. 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.640 This composite sketch, which even the victim said was only 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:28.480 sixty percent accurate, and no one could have created an 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.959 accurate sketch from this for the reason we've already talked about, 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.880 and of course this bogus lineup which they tried to 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:36.800 use every thirty trick in the book in order to 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:39.120 get hurt to identify you in the lineup. 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.600 Well, they released me. After the lineup was done, I 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:44.760 had called my dad to come and pick me up, 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:46.680 you know from the gail. My dad was seventy six 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:48.960 years old. Who went back to my house and pulled 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:51.240 in a driveway in. I could see all the lights around. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:53.439 Their doors were open, and I'm thinking, what the hell 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.760 is going on? So walk inside the house. It looked 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.200 like a tornado had gone through my house. Everything was 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:02.000 tossed and turned. The cops were so arrogant. They went 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:06.000 inside my refrigerator. I had jars of pickles and peppers, 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.040 and they broke the jars on my kitchen floor. My 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.280 dad started crying, and guy said, Dad, I said, don't worry, 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:13.360 go home and try to get some sleep. I'll clean up. 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.000 So I stayed up mostly I trying to put everything 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.240 back together. Got up next morning and I went to 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.120 Myers to buy some of the stuff that the cops 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.840 had broken. Come back home, pulling the driveway and Oastin 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.680 and his partner Bart Myrlett, they pulled in behind my 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:29.120 rear bumper like to try to block me off. So 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:30.680 I get out of the car and I'm holding one 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.840 bag the grocer's on my left hand, and Oastin says, one, 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:35.680 I'm going to put that bag on a ground, put 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:37.440 your hands on top of the car. So I put 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:39.200 the bag on a driveway, put my hand on top 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:41.800 of the car, and handcuffed me behind my back. And 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:43.520 I said, you want to tell me what's going on now? 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:46.000 He said, well, I'm under arrest for this bee armed 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:49.040 robbery and the rape because I was identified the day 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.880 before in that lineup. And I said, look, I'm not 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.560 the smartest guy in the world, but I'm not stupid. 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:56.920 If I was identified in that lineup, you guys would 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:58.600 never let me go. You do arrest of me running 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.320 on a spot, and I'll never forget this line as 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:04.160 long as I live. Olsen said, you know what, one 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.040 I'm going by the time I get done fucking with you, 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:09.440 is going to cost you a million dollars to get 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.680 your ass out of prison. Quote unquote. 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.760 It's really sick thing. I mean, who are you supposed 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.840 to call when the cops are the criminals. So here 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:19.720 you are. You've never been in trouble a day in 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.080 your life. Now you're sent into a jail. What was 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:24.160 that experience? Like? 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.680 That was hell step below prison, that's for sure. But 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.160 I wouldn't wish that on anyone. You know. I had 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.320 a quote opponent attorney. His name is Lawrence Peppler. Guy 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.520 wouldn't take my phone calls. So I filed a grievance 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.120 against him to try to get another attorney. We have 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.080 a hearing on a Friday afternoon in front of Judge Schwartz, 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.440 and Judge Schwartz said that he's not in the habit 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.480 of changing attorneys, and he told me that he's going 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.120 to give me a new Attorney's name is Albert Markowski. 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.520 And if I don't like him, I could defend myself. 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:58.160 And I told him Grunner, I don't know the first 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.080 thing about the law. But he's says, come Monday morning, 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.200 we're picking a jury. So what that means is this, 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:08.200 mister Markowski is going to have Saturday and Sunday to 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.280 prepare for a case. Fifteen counts of CSC. What kind 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.280 of b what kind of I'm robbery. 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:15.920 Gail, you got a way in on this. I mean, 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:19.120 did judge really appointed attorney on Friday who starts the 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:22.800 case on Monday, and explain CSC in these initials as well? 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:23.360 If you could. 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.840 A CSC one case, which is a criminal sexual assault 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:31.440 case first degree, involves acts of penetration, it's a life offense. 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.440 Anyone would need a lot of time to prepare for that, 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:39.200 particularly in this case because the rape itself was factually complex, 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.240 and then the process and procedure afterwards required a lot 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:47.920 of analysis. So two days a week doesn't matter, is 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:49.480 just totally insufficient. 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:52.880 So you go to trial, if you can even call 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:56.240 it that, it's a show trial in effect, right, I mean, 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:59.240 they gave you no hope in hell. I don't know 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.520 what was on the judge his mind, but one would 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:06.359 have hoped that the judge would have been an arbiter 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.919 in this and would have actually wanted to see justice done, 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.600 even though it seems like nobody else on that side 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:16.040 did or had any interest in it. But nonetheless, you're 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.359 now screwed. You've got this attorney who you've just met, 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.159 who hasn't had any time to do any investigation or 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.720 preparation of any kind, and now you go to trial. 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.600 So how long did the trial take? And did anyone 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.200 do anything to help you during this process? 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.800 No, mister Barkowski, I think I talked to him twice. 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:39.679 They picked a jury on Monday afternoon. The trial lasted 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.800 the rest of the week. The following week, jury came 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:44.360 back on Wednesday. 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:49.040 So, despite the victim's uncertainty regarding the composite sketch and 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:52.320 her glimpses of the attacker, the composite sketch was admitted 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:57.080 into evidence and the prosecution's case was centered on this 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:02.080 composite sketch because remember, Ken wasn't right, so there was 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:05.320 no forensic evidence connecting him to the crime, and of 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.919 course the zerology testing didn't connect into it either, So 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.960 the composite sketch, they realized, wasn't going to be enough 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.840 on its own, which brings us to this character named 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:20.159 Glenn McCormick. Gail, please tell us who this guy was 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:21.600 and the role that he played. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.639 Glenn McCormick shared a cell with Ken for a little 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:26.960 while when he was in the Macomb County Jail. He 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.840 was released, he was contacted by Detective Oustin. He was 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:34.480 asked to come to the Clinton Township Police Department, and 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.760 he was told by Linda Davis, the prosecutor, that he 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:40.639 was in a world of hurt. He was charged with 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.280 armed robbery obstructing a police officer. He was a fourth 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:47.919 habitual so he had potentially a life sentence and that 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.640 if he would testify against Ken, you know, something could 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.880 be worked out with respect to his charges. And the 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:59.200 deal was his charges would be changed to attempt unarmed 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:02.000 robbery with It's a recommendation for a year in the 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.760 county jail, which is a whole lot different than a 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:05.960 potential life offense. 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:09.440 He was told by Lynda Davis and Ostin that if 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.360 he didn't testify to what they had in their reports, 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.920 Linda Davis guaranteed him that he would not see the 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:15.480 lighted date. 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:20.439 McCormick was in an interview room this discussion occurred, the 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.960 police report was placed in front of him. Linda Davis 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:28.280 and Detective Oston left the room. McCormick had an opportunity 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.200 to read the police report and that's how he learned 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:33.879 the facts of Ken's case. They came back into the 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:37.320 room and they did a recording of him. He testified 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.480 at trial that Ken said that, yeah, I did it. 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:42.720 They ain't got shit on me. I hit all the 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.440 evidence and so on. McCormick lied under oath during the trial. 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:47.760 It was pretty egregious. 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:50.679 So everybody knows you can't bribe a witness, right, you 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.000 get five years or more for bribing a witness. But 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:55.400 the government comes along and says to this guy, he's 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.000