Nearly everyone who's lived in Arizona for a while has heard of Debra Milke, the mother convicted of arranging for her 4-year-old son's murder in 1989. We remember the bold newspaper headlines and TV news reporters breathlessly describing Milke's diabolical plot to rid herself of a troublesome child and collect on a $5,000 insurance policy she had taken out on him. Some people said she wasn't a good mother, her relationship with roommate James Styers was very suspicious and other circumstantial evidence was equally damning.
This much is clear: On December 2, 1989, Milke dressed little Christopher in his favorite cowboy outfit and sent him, accompanied by her roommate Styers, to visit Santa at the mall. In the state's version, however, she was a selfish monster who had plotted with Styers and his friend Roger Scott to kill Christopher. Styers did indeed shoot the boy; Scott knew about it, confessed and led police to the body in the desert. Christopher went to see Santa Claus but had three bullets in his head.
Milke was implicated by the men and charged with kidnapping, child abuse and conspiracy to commit murder. After a first-degree conviction in 1990, Debra Milke was sentenced to death, and would've been the first woman executed in Arizona since 1932. The worthless POS who shot Christopher, James Styers, refused to testify at Milke's trial, as did accomplice Roger Scott, so the prosecution's assertion that they had implicated Milke went largely unchallenged. Both men were convicted in separate trials and sentenced to death (they remain in prison).
Debra Jean Milke was a 25-year-old young mother when the crime occurred; she has spent the last 24 years in state prison, 22 of those years on death row. She is 51 today, having lived half her life in jail—even denied the right to visit her dying mother. Ever since the conviction, she and her lawyers, led by the Arizona Justice Project, have maintained Milke's innocence and filed appeals with numerous courts, usually with disappointing results. But they kept at it, for more than two decades. And won.
Today at a press conference in Phoenix, we heard from the lead attorneys and Milke herself, who described the Kafkaesque double-whammy: first the loss of her child, then being found guilty of his murder—based on bogus evidence.
Milke's conviction hinged on the testimony of Phoenix Detective Armando Saldate, who said Milke confessed to the crime during a 30-minute interrogation, a confession she says never happened. Saldate's interview with Milke, which she appeared at voluntarily, was not recorded or witnessed by another person, and he denied her request to have a lawyer present (he says she waived that right). Also, it's Saldate's word that Styers and Scott incriminated Milke; there's no recording of their confession and both men refused to testify at Milke's trial. Repeatedly at the press conference today Milke's legal team described Saldate as a "dirty cop," who decided Milke was guilty and invented evidence to fit his prejudices.
Milke has always maintained that she never confessed or waived her right to an attorney. She claims that Saldate, who has a record of misconduct and perjury, lied in his reports and on the witness stand. Prosecutors knew about Saldate's slimy past, which included at least 8 cases that were thrown out or overturned because he lied in court or violated defendants' rights. However, in its zeal to get a conviction, the state did not disclose Saldate's record to the defense or jurors. The prosecution's malfeasance, combined with Saldate's dirty tactics, was the basis for most of Milke's appeals.
Finally, in March 2013, after many appeals at various levels, the Ninth Circuit tossed Milke's conviction, ruling that her Miranda rights were compromised and she did not receive a fair trial.
"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 Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for the court.
Milke was released on bond, and the case was sent back to Arizona, where the attorney general said he would retry Debra Milke. However, the new trial depended on the testimony of Detective Saldate, who subsequently invoked his 5th Amendment right not to testify, which the court granted. Just a few months ago, then, an Arizona appeals court ruled that a retrial constituted double jeopardy, and Milke was ordered freed;
last week the Arizona Supreme Court declined to review that decision.
Yesterday, March 23, Judge Rosa Mroz dismissed the case. Today, we finally heard from Debra Milke, who most of us have never heard and only seen in prison photos.
Milke spent as much time talking about the false confession she said Saldate coerced her into making, and said her case should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who finds themselves involved in the criminal-justice system.
"This could happen to any one of you," she said.
The crime will no doubt continue to divide people who follow the case, which Debra Milke herself acknowledged today. Even friends said the young Milke was not a great parent, so in some people's eyes she will always be guilty. Already journalists and others are saying that "in their gut" they still feel she's a devious murderer who got off on a technicality. Attorney Lori Voepel, who worked on the case for 15 years, challenged their gut instincts at today's press conference: "I've read more of the trial transcripts than you, I know Debra Milke better than you, my gut is more informed than yours."
Debra Milke has paid with the loss of her son and half her life. The prosecution? Not so much.