Appeals court overturns conviction of woman on death row
PHOENIX (AP) - A federal appeals court on Thursday threw out the convictions of a woman sentenced to death in the notorious 1989 killing of her 4-year-old son, ruling that the case was tainted by a detective with a history of lying under oath.
The ruling marked a surprising turn in a case that made national headlines with the brazen and gruesome nature of the crime. Prosecutors said Debra Jean Milke dressed up her son Christopher in his favorite outfit and told him he was going to see Santa Claus at a mall during the holidays.
Instead, he was taken into the desert by her boyfriend and another man and shot three times in the back of the head as part of what prosecutors said was a plot by Milke and the two other defendants to collect a $50,000 life insurance policy.
Milke would have been the first woman executed in Arizona since the 1930s had her appeals run out. The Arizona Supreme Court had gone so far to issue a death warrant for Milke in 1997, but the execution was delayed because she had yet to exhaust federal appeals.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the prosecution failed to disclose information about a history of misconduct by a detective who testified that Milke confessed to plotting her son's murder.
That record included multiple court rulings in other cases that former Detective Armando Saldate Jr. either lied under oath or violated suspects' Miranda rights during interrogations.
Prosecutors are required to provide a defendant's lawyers with material that might support a not-guilty verdict, including material that could undermine the credibility of a prosecution witness.
There was no other witness or recording of the purported confession by Milke, who has proclaimed her innocence.
"No civilized system of justice should have to depend on such flimsy evidence, quite possibly tainted by dishonesty or overzealousness, to decide whether to take someone's life or liberty," Chief Justice Alex Kozinski wrote in the decision.
The trial amounted to "a swearing contest" in which the judge and jury ultimately believed the detective over Milke, but they didn't know of his record of dishonesty and misconduct, Kozinski wrote.
The ruling reversed a U.S. District Court judge's ruling and ordered the lower court to require Arizona authorities to turn over all relevant personnel records for the detective.
Once the material is produced and defense lawyers have time to review it, prosecutors will have 30 days to decide whether to retry her. If they don't, she will be released from prison.
Maricopa County prosecutors had yet to read the ruling and had no immediate comment on the decision, spokesman Jerry Cobb said.
Milke defense lawyer Michael Kimerer was in trial and not immediately available for comment.
In 2009, Kimerer said his client maintains her innocence and was a loving mother who still grieves her son's death.
"Our main concern is the fact that I have a client that never confessed and a police detective who said she gave a confession," Kimerer said then. "There was no tape recorder, no witnesses, nothing. Just his word."
Milke, 48, is one of three women on death row in Arizona. All three are imprisoned at the state prison for women in in Goodyear.
The two men convicted in the Milke's case, Roger Scott and former Milke roommate James Styers, are both on death row at a prison in Florence.
Scott confessed during a police interrogation and led detectives to the boy's body.
But neither Scott or Styers would testify against Milke.
___
Associated Press writer Amanda Lee Myers contributed.
The ruling marked a surprising turn in a case that made national headlines with the brazen and gruesome nature of the crime. Prosecutors said Debra Jean Milke dressed up her son Christopher in his favorite outfit and told him he was going to see Santa Claus at a mall during the holidays.
Instead, he was taken into the desert by her boyfriend and another man and shot three times in the back of the head as part of what prosecutors said was a plot by Milke and the two other defendants to collect a $50,000 life insurance policy.
Milke would have been the first woman executed in Arizona since the 1930s had her appeals run out. The Arizona Supreme Court had gone so far to issue a death warrant for Milke in 1997, but the execution was delayed because she had yet to exhaust federal appeals.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the prosecution failed to disclose information about a history of misconduct by a detective who testified that Milke confessed to plotting her son's murder.
That record included multiple court rulings in other cases that former Detective Armando Saldate Jr. either lied under oath or violated suspects' Miranda rights during interrogations.
Prosecutors are required to provide a defendant's lawyers with material that might support a not-guilty verdict, including material that could undermine the credibility of a prosecution witness.
There was no other witness or recording of the purported confession by Milke, who has proclaimed her innocence.
"No civilized system of justice should have to depend on such flimsy evidence, quite possibly tainted by dishonesty or overzealousness, to decide whether to take someone's life or liberty," Chief Justice Alex Kozinski wrote in the decision.
The trial amounted to "a swearing contest" in which the judge and jury ultimately believed the detective over Milke, but they didn't know of his record of dishonesty and misconduct, Kozinski wrote.
The ruling reversed a U.S. District Court judge's ruling and ordered the lower court to require Arizona authorities to turn over all relevant personnel records for the detective.
Once the material is produced and defense lawyers have time to review it, prosecutors will have 30 days to decide whether to retry her. If they don't, she will be released from prison.
Maricopa County prosecutors had yet to read the ruling and had no immediate comment on the decision, spokesman Jerry Cobb said.
Milke defense lawyer Michael Kimerer was in trial and not immediately available for comment.
In 2009, Kimerer said his client maintains her innocence and was a loving mother who still grieves her son's death.
"Our main concern is the fact that I have a client that never confessed and a police detective who said she gave a confession," Kimerer said then. "There was no tape recorder, no witnesses, nothing. Just his word."
Milke, 48, is one of three women on death row in Arizona. All three are imprisoned at the state prison for women in in Goodyear.
The two men convicted in the Milke's case, Roger Scott and former Milke roommate James Styers, are both on death row at a prison in Florence.
Scott confessed during a police interrogation and led detectives to the boy's body.
But neither Scott or Styers would testify against Milke.
___
Associated Press writer Amanda Lee Myers contributed.
Good. Â We shouldn't be in the practice of executing people on hearsay.
The two men convicted in the Milke's case, Roger Scott and former Milke roommate James Styers, are both on death row at a prison in Florence.
This really makes me sick. She will probably walk, and she is as guilty as the two men that are on death row. It's no wonder people are killing each other. Get the right defense attorney, and you're in the clear
So what took 24 years to determine her innocence?
So is there a reason they call it just-us or justice...
Who said ." those among you without sin cast the first stone."??
"The two men convicted in the Milke's case, Roger Scott and former Milke roommate James Styers, are both on death row". 23 years give or take on the trial date, this is the problem with death-row. Fry'em , burn'em, shoot'em, hang'em, but for #@^@s sake do something already. Criminal rights....Give that boy justice. Â
I remember when this case was being tried. Personaly, I think the three all need to fry, but the cop needs to be charged as well.
...and Maricopa County has been losing court battles right and left, lately, that they probably won't do anything about her.
This is wht in Oregon, if you are EVER cuaght lying and are part of law enforcement, you will need a new career line.Â
Not only will you be fired, but you will lose your DPSST certification. The minimum for such is 10 years and lifetime bans are common.Â
Thus you could go from state trooper to not being able to be a mall cop in one lie.
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@TheUglyTruth I knew a stagehand/artist a number of years ago who met and subsequently married a woman he met at AA.  When he realized the error of his ways, he filed for divorce.  2-3 days before the divorce was final, she arranged for him to meet her late one night at some restaurant downtown.  He did, she showed up with some guy she'd paid $50 to so that he'd kill him.  He did -- shot him to death.  Since they were still married at the time of his death, she got all his money including life insurance because the shooter, when caught, refused to implicate her.  Sucked.