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Will Debra Milke be Released on Bail After 23 years on Death Row?

Tuesday, July 30, 2013 15:25

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Phoenix, AZ—On August 1^st that’s exactly the question that will be before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Rosa Mroz. Prosecutors are desperately trying to avoid certain disgrace and civil litigation by continuing their efforts to murder Debra Milke under color of law.

On or about December 2, 1989 James Styers and Roger Scotttook Milke’s four-year old son Christopher out to a desert wash at 99^thAvenues and Happy Valley Road. There, little Christopher was shot with a cheap .22 caliber revolver in the back of his head three times. The two men confessed however they each blamed the other as the “trigger man”.

Styers and Scott went to the Metrocenter Mall, discarded sneakers worn at the crime scene by Styers. Scott took a city bus home and Styrers made a phony report claiming Christopher simply disappeared at the mall. He also phoned Debra Milke informing her that her son was missing. Because of the tender age of the child a massive police and media presence filled the mall.

Styers’s story began to fall apart at the mall under skillful questioning by Phoenix police missing person’s detective Charles Masino. Other officers responded to the apartment where Roger Scott lived with his elderly mother. Scott wasted no time confessing and told them that the murder weapon was in his closet. Scott personally directed police to the scene where they murdered the child.

The only motive that ever made sense was Styer’s desire to have a romantic relationship with the boy’s mother. Milke had take refuge at Styer’s two-bedroom apartment to hide from her alcoholic, drug-addicted, ex-convict and mentally ill ex-husband that had been stalking her.

Styers was a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran collecting disability for PTSD. He had rented the second bedroom of his apartment near 12^th Street and Glendale Avenue to Milke and her son. Styers offered to care for Christopher along with his own three year-old daughter Wendy. It seemed to be a good temporary solution for Milke. Milke was dating another young man and had no interest in the somewhat older Styers other than as a care-taker and friend.

Milke had just gotten a new and better paying job across town, signed an apartment lease nearby and enrolled her son in day care. Styers’ apparent motivation was to somehow prevent Milke from moving away and he had hoped she would cry on his shoulder and stay with him.

Debra Milke was challenged as a single mom but always went the extra mile to make sure Christopher had the very best she could provide. I personally saw the family photo album with hundreds of pictures of Milke and her son. He had the best toys; clothes and they were always in a clean well kept home. More importantly you could see the love and laughter that bonded the two until Styers and Scott violently ended the child’s life.

Entering the investigation was Phoenix police detective Armando Saldate. This troubled cop began his career in patrol and went sideways by committing sexual extortion against a female motorist. The woman had an outstanding arrest warrant against her and Saldate offered to let her go in exchange for sex. He told the woman to drive to a more private location so he could collect his reward. Instead she contacted police that began an investigation.

Saldate was interrogated where he denied his crime but he given a polygraph by detective Bob Calieo that he quickly flunked. Soon Saldate confessed to the extortion but instead of being booked, tried and imprisoned for that crime they suspended him for a mere five days.

Saldate had proven himself to be incredibly unfit for police work because he led a career of deception and framing suspects for crimes. No matter what this cop got caught doing he was well protected by both police supervisors and prosecutors. All seemed fair in keeping those he wrongfully arrested behind bars.

Saldate was assigned to interview Debra Milke and reminded by his sergeant that he better tape-record the interview. Saldate knew tape recorders would interfere with his technique of manufacturing confessions. He assumed Milke’s guilt after seeing her employee benefit package at the apartment. Those papers showed that every employee of the company got a standard $5,000 burial policy for family members.

Saldate arrived at the Pinal County Sheriff’s nurse’s office where Milke had waited for his arrival. Saldate quickly told everyone but Milke to leave and closed the door. Here is where two separate versions of what went on inside this rom began. Saldate claimed Milke confessed. Milke is adamant that she asked for a lawyer and never confessed. This was a simple trap designed by Saldate for any jury. Who would a jury believe in court, to suspect or the cop? Everyone especially Saldate knows that the cop will always win that contest.

What Saldate did not count on is that I would land an interview where I’d employed a hidden tape recorder at the Maricopa County jail receiving room. Milke was still being processed and this was just a few hours after Saldate’s interrogation. Debra Milke certainly did not confess to me and made it very clear she had nothing to do with her son’s death. She was shocked, emotional and angry that anyone would think she was involved or told that to police.

I was doing the interview for Channel 10 News in Phoenix. I raced my tape just a few blocks away to the newsroom where that interview was broadcast to over a million views at the 5, 6 and 10 PM newscasts.

It was days later that I saw Saldate’s supplementary police report claiming she confessed. I knew that the cop had lied right then and there.

Milke’s trial defense lawyer never bothered to subpoena the local news reports or call me as a witness. That was only one of a litany of mistakes made by an inexperienced lawyer assigned to defend Milke’s very life at trial. Other than Saldate’s perjury there was never a shred of evidence of Milke’s involvement in this terrible crime.

Milke was convicted and sentenced to Arizona’s gas chamber based upon Saldate’s perjury. Milke languished on Death Row until the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made remarkable findings that Saldate, a serial perjurer was allowed to do yet again what he’d done so many time in the past. That the prosecutors withheld Saldate’s prior deception, internal investigation and personnel records from the defense. As a result the jury had nothing that would aid them in determining Saldate’s credibility.

The Court reversed Milke’s convictions and death sentence and took the unusual step to ask for an investigation by the Justice Department into the violation of Milke’s Civil Rights by Saldate and the Maricopa County Attorney’s office. The Maricopa County Attorney has opted to retry Milke for Capital Murder rather than release her despite common sense, evidence or simple ethics.

As for the bail issue before judge Mroz there are huge factors that weigh in Milke’s favor despite that prosecutors still demanding the death penalty. The evidence is miles away from clear and convincing. The proof is anything but evident.

Milke has neither criminal record nor a history of failing to appear in court. Most importantly Milke has solid ties to the community and people willing to care for her and pledge their homes as security that she will face her accuser in court.

Milke has enjoyed a record in prison as a cooperative and model inmate. She has never demonstrated any behavior that would make her a danger to the community. There was never any effort by Milke to flee from the beginning until the present. She has no passport and will wear an ankle GPS monitor if the court directs her to do that. There is every reason to release Milke on bail pending a retrial. There are no reasons to leave this innocent woman in a cage. Milke has been punished horribly for decades and yet stands today before a court totally free of the presumption of guilt.

It’s time for Judge Moroz to end this government tyranny. It’s the job of judges to be the buffer between government might and all of us. I urge Judge Moroz allow Debra Milke to fight these baseless accusations with dignity and freedom.

Frankly the retrial is nothing more than prosecutors attempting to bully Milke into a plea agreement to insure her release. Milke would be labeled for life as a convicted murderer and she’d be barred from asking a civil court jury to weigh the evidence or award compensation for her ordeal.

Prosecutors rightfully fear that an avalanche of investigation and litigation will expose a longstanding culture of corruption. Bad cops and prosecutors ruined many innocent lives and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. It’s now time for the guilty to face the music.

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