Why This Conservative Hates The Death Penalty!

A lot of people ask me why I love Germany. Here is the answer!

Aschaffenberg, Germany--it was December 1968 when after being drafted by the Army I wound up in this beautiful hamlet.  I was just about 15 miles from Frankfurt and was blessed to be assigned there as a medical corpsman.

It was Christmas time and I was in a strange land far away from home.  I decided that since I was a guest in  this nation I'd act like one. 

I was compelled to learn the customs, language and culture.  I stayed far away from fellow soldiers if for no other reason I liked the elegant German babes better.  

I soon found that the German people were incredibly kind to me.  I made some wonderful new friends and got an education few Americans ever get.  

The 18 months I spent in Germany  was the very best time of my life.  I traveled everywhere I could.  The money exchange rate was four Marks to the Dollar then. It was truly an adventure! 

If I made a mistake it was not staying there and finishing my education in a medical profession in Munich or Berlin.  

I never forgot the kindness and love that the German people showed me when I was so young.  

Over the last 25 years I worked on the Debra Milke Death Penalty travesty in Arizona.  I investigated not on her behalf but was hired by many media organizations to help them cover that nightmare.  

It turned out that I discovered early that Milke was framed and told that to anyone who'd listen. It turned out I was correct once again. 

The Milke case actually got me sent back to Europe three times.  The last trip in December was indirectly because of my involvement with the case.

Debra Milke Had A Great Day Today…

The media crush after court

Milke and her legal team

Elevator Selfie With The Woman of The Hour!

Cases before Judge Mroz Today

The Kind of Ankle Bling You Don't Want!

Phoenix, AZ—I was in Courtroom 7D today to watch Judge Rosa Mroz enter her final orders on the Murder case of Debra Milke.

Before the judge took the bench I was greeted by a warm hug from Milke on this extraordinary day.  There were smiles and some tears during this somewhat emotional event.

I asked Milke to show me her ankle monitor she was required to wear since September of 2013.  She called it a sign of her Freedom, rather than an inconvenience.   She lifted the leg of her slacks to show it to me and I took the last picture of that device before a probation officer in a private area of the court removed it.

Germany sent reporters from ARD, RTL and Der Spiegel Magazine.  There were cameras galore when Milke and her lawyers left the court.

Milke will be at a press conference tomorrow morning and I will be in attendance.

Lawyers for Milke will have a lot to say and map out the massive civil lawsuit that was filed last Friday afternoon.

Former AG Tom Horne Did Right By Debra Milke

Former Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne

Phoenix, AZ—When the 9^th Circuit US Court of Appeals orderd a new trial for Debra Milke it set in motion her being cleared and freed. 

Former Attorney General Tom Horne quickly and very publicly vowed to appeal that ruling boasting he’d personally argue the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After Horne's stepping out on a limb with his promise to appeal the case something amazing happened.  Horne acted on a constituent’s (someone I know really well) request to take a very careful second look at that case.  He did and everything suddenly changed.  Horne  waived appealing the case sending it immediately to Maricopa County for a retrial. 

Had Horne appealed the case Debra Milke would have languished another two to three years on Death Row.  Milke would have rotted there while the United States Supreme Court wrestled with a Petition for Review. 

This Monday morning at 8:30 AM Judge Rosa Mroz will hold court for the last time on the Debra Milke Case.  She will dismiss the case with prejudice and exonerate the quarter of a million dollar bail bond that kept Milke free for well over a year.  Milke will be free and have no criminal history record.  

Horne risked the wrath of Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and those whose support he needed during his most difficult political time.  This ended his political career.  Horne let his conscience and heart decide the direction he’d take with Milke.

Horne quietly dropped the appeal in the interest of justice.  It’s not often that a politician will simply do the right thing risking it all. 

Tom Horne is an unsung hero here and will always have a special place in my heart for being gallant while under fire.   

Debra Milke has a lot of people to thank for intervening, advocating on her behalf and ultimately getting not only her life spared but getting her cleared of this crime.  

There are those that contributed money for Milke’s legal defense or others that kept her comforted and sane with many letters while she languished in the worst possible place. 

Debra Milke lost the very best part of her life and nobody can return that to her.  She did not deserve the real life horror story she lived. 

Horrible people caused Milke’s troubles and in the end it was the kind and generous people helped her.  The whole thing should never have happened.

It was James Styers and Roger Scott alone that murdered Milke's child who would be turning 30 soon if he was still alive.  We will never know what Christopher Milke’s contribution to this world might have been.   Perhaps that was even a bigger loss to Milke than her freedom.  Now Milke can mourn that loss. 

I don’t know what Milke’s plans are now but the choice is hers alone.  She needs to make up for lost time and do it all on her terms.  She needs to avoid negativity now more than ever.

Maricopa County should quickly come to terms with the lawsuit filed by Milke’s lawyers last Friday afternoon. 

Litigating their massive and cruel  blunders for years will be throwing good taxpayer money after bad.  Give this woman the many millions she deserves and deal with those cops and prosecutors that lie, cheat and steal the lives of innocent people.

Christopher Milke has no grave but this is where he perished.  I shot this video from my camera drone last summer:

Egregious Prosecutorial Misconduct Freed Debra Milke From a Conviction and Death Sentence.

Phoenix, AZ—Prosecutors went to the Court of Last Resort to salvage their soiled reputations and that of a disgraced former cop. Finally Debra Milke is free even though she already paid a price far greater than that of most convicted murderers in America. 

It was not just Prosecutorial Misconduct that freed Milke but it was really about her innocence.  

Had there been a retrial there was not a scintilla of a chance they'd have re-convicted Milke.  This was just nothing more than an "Hail Mary" effort to limit corrupt official's liability under the doctrine of Collateral Estoppel.  That's legalese that would decree in a civil lawsuit that since the judge let the trial commence, that the cops and prosecutors were acting in good faith. 

This has been a 25 yearlong odyssey that began December 3, 1989.  That day I met Milke as she was being booked into the Madison Street Jail on a charge of murdering her four-year old son Christopher.

It was just two hours earlier when Former Phoenix police detective Armando Saldate claimed Milke confessed this horrible crime to him.  He was told to record any interview with her but didn’t. He kicked out fellow officers and medical personal from a nurse’s office at the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department headquarters to preclude any witnesses.

Now at the jail using a hidden tape recorder I asked Milke if she told the police she had anything to do with the death of her son.  She became angry and responded, “That’s crazy, who told you that?  I had nothing to do with the death of my son!”

Since Milke had not been allowed to make a single phone call or get advice from anyone in that short time space it was obvious that there was never a confession.

At her trial Milke had a grossly ineffective and pathetic lawyer.  I was  never called as a witness where I could have played my crucial audio tape for the jury.  If I could record Milke why could't Saldate? 

The only evidence that convicted Milke was Saldate’s perjury where he claimed that Milke Confessed. Milke was sentenced to the Gas Chamber and spent decades in solitary confinement on Death Row at Arizon's Perryville Prison.

This changed after Milke finally got better lawyers and after more than a decade their efforts culminated in this final ruling that the case must be dismissed with prejudice.  That effectively and finally ended the 25 year nightmare of Debra Milke.

Aside of the relief for Debra Milke other victims of prosecutorial and police misconduct will benefit from the Milke ruling.   The most immediate beneficiary with be convicted killer Jodi Arias.  That's because cops destroyed computer evidence that would have supported Arias’ claim she killed her former boyfriend in necessary self-defense.

Prosecutorial misconduct is rampant in America.  Prosecutors routinely hide evidence from the defense lawyers that points to the innocence of their clients.  

Since the police investigate the cases with people are killed or injured they control nearly all the evidence that exists.  It’s here were is where the cheating begins.

Prosecutors and cops have nearly blanket immunity for their misconduct and that’s why they rarely face punishment even after they are caught red handed.   That immunity is obviously the root of the problem.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery went to the wall to protect the thugs in his office responsible for the Milke travesty.  Montgomery however could not succeed with the overwhelming evidence that exposed this epic misconduct.

Sadly the only people punished here with be the taxpayers.  There with be no discipline or criminal charges for cops or prosecutors. They won’t have to pay a single penny for their dastardly deeds. Taxpayer-funded lawyers will defend these creeps in court.

Milke now has serious legal help in the form of civil lawyers and they have filed a lawsuit on her behalf for the violation of her civil rights.

That 72-page complaint is a sordid saga of one outrageous act after another.  It should make every American’s blood boil.  We’d expect this kind of activity in Iran, North Korea or Hitler’s Germany but not here!

Who is Arizona Milke, a Victim or Just Another Dysfunctional Drug Addicted Ex-Convict?

Phoenix, AZ—Mark Henry Milke has legally changed his name to Arizona Milke.  It’s understandable, he’s got a very troubled past.  He is an ex-convict and drug addict that happens to be the father of four-year old Christopher Milke.  James Styers and Roger Scott murdered Young Christopher Milke in December of 1989.

If Debra Milke is guilty of any wrongdoing it was by being smitten as a young adult by this smooth older con man.  Mark Milke had that bad boy image and young Debra was delusional that she could meet the challenge to somehow change and tame him. 

Mark Milke was a sometime carpet installer when he was not in jail, prison or simply idle because of alcoholism, mental illness or his drug addiction.  Milke has a long documented history of domestic violence with numerous women.  The Orders of Protection, mental commitments and criminal cases were once all available at the Maricopa County Court Clerks records.  Later the law was changed and his mental commitments were removed from public viewing.  I still have two old case numbers.

Early in their failed marriage Debra, soon learned that Mark was dangerous and a horrible excuse for a father.  He did not support his child and refused to stop his law breaking and substance abuse.  Mark threatened Debra and Christopher and that sent Debra Milke running to the courts for protection during their divorce.

Debra Milke had to seek safety from Mark and her sister knew a sometime church going James Styers who was a single father of a girl  Christopher’s age.  Styers was a Marine veteran living on a disability pension.  More importantly Styers had a two-bedroom apartment and offered to rent one to Debra and her son. 

Styers quickly tried to romance Debra but she understandably rebuffed the older man.  Soon Debra got a better paying job across town and rented her own two bedroom apartment in Tempe close to her job.  It was after Debra’s announcement to James that he and Roger Scott decided to kill Christopher.  Was this because Styers believed Debra would not move away while her son was missing?  Did Styers somehow think he‘d finally be in line for Debra’s affections under those circumstances?

Mark Milke took no part in Christopher’s murder but I think it’s clear that his mental illness, drug addiction and threatening violence placed little Christopher right into harm's way.  I’m convinced that had Mark Milke been any kind of a father Christopher would be alive today.  Mark Milke is not without serious guilt here.

When Christopher was murdered Mark Milke quickly became a self-promoter.  He immediately used his new status and fame to garner sympathy, sex and financial support from gullible women.  Some of the women later got Orders of Protection and later had to flee from Mark Milke too.

Mark Milke’s new pick-up line was, “My ex-wife murdered my son to get back at me!”  He’d carry around a little Teddy bear and his son’s ashes in a belt fanny pack.    Soon Mark Milke misplaced Christopher’s ashes and to this day does not know where they may be. 

Mark Milke bragged to me after the trial and sentencing of his ex-wife how he hid the family photo album from her lawyer and trial court.  He actually loaned it to me to photograph for a future Channel 10 television story.  In it there were hundreds of great color photographs of a very happy Debra and Christopher Milke.  A clean apartment, great kids clothes, toys and there was a wonderful story of motherly love revealed by those pictures.

Mark Milke has capitalized on his son’s murder in every way he could.  His conduct was beyond disgraceful and despicable.  Arizona Mark Milke has never missed an opportunity to smear his long-suffering ex-wife with the media.  Due perhaps to financial reasons the media no longer vets their sources.   So this troubled ex-con-husband is allowed to smear Debra Milke relentlessly and unchallenged.

In all of Mr. Milke’s efforts to smear his former wife claiming he “knows she is guilty” he never once mentions that he was unable to give police or prosecutors one scintilla of evidence of her involvement in the crime.  Arizona Milke never testified in any proceeding whatsoever in this case.  That alone should scuttle any credibility of his outrageous and self-serving claims.   

As for Debra Milke She has won a new trial for now and will have to continue the fight for her freedom.  However now the prosecution has been exposed for their outrageous obstruction of justice, promotion of detective Armando Saldate's perjury and the truth seems to be traveling in the direction of setting Debra Milke free.   

Why Carice Van Houten Should be Your Favorite Actress

Carice Van Houten

Amsterdam, NL—One evening nearly three years ago I discovered Carice Van Houten.  I was looking for something to watch on cable TV and flipping my remote control.  The Encore Channel was just beginning what became my favorite film of all times, Black Book.

I watched this film that involves three languages, Dutch, German and English with English subtitles. I speak German but unfortunately no Dutch.   The film recounted actual historical events in Nazi occupied Holland during the war. 

The Dutch Underground forces fought the Nazi’s courageously through sabotage and their protection of Jews from forced deportation, to what we now know were extermination camps.

Carice Van Houten played a Jewish cabaret singer, Rachael Stein who was hiding from the Nazis.  She has an austere life with a Dutch family that tried to convert her to their Christian faith.  She was waiting out the war that was turning against Hitler’s forces. 

Stein finds herself homeless and vulnerable and as luck would have it actively working within the Dutch Underground.  The film is a thriller in every aspect. The cast and crew are as good as it gets and the writing and direction by Paul Verhoeven, (Basic Instinct, Robo-Cop and Showgirls) truly made a film masterpiece.

The period costumes, vehicles and props all were amazing.  The terrific Black Book musical soundtrack is on my IPhone, IPad and MacBook.   

The bulk of this film was made at Filmstudio Babelsberg near Berlin because a generous German government film grant made for nearly half of the project’s budget.

Van Houten displayed incredible talent and range of abilities in Black Book.  In the film she swims, sings, dances, speaks three languages and plays every possible emotion.  Van Houten’s character was that of an unlikely but magnificent hero.  Don’t dare let me forget to mention, Van Houten may be the sexiest woman ever to grace the silver screen!

As an actress Van Houten is truly fearless in that she does whatever it takes to thrill her audience and make her character credible.   

Van Houten played Nina Von Stauffenberg in Valkyrie with Tom Cruise in her American film debut.  That part was too small for anyone to notice Van Houten’s significant talent and charms. 

Van Houten’s Los Angeles agent is the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and they have apparently been sleeping rather than utilizing the gifts of this superstar.  We have to wake them up so they can begin to appreciate their hidden box office moneymaker.

Van Houten has a minimal but delightful accent that might be preventing Hollywood from embracing her.  Have they forgotten two legendary actresses with much more pronounced accents like Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich?

Van Houten can be seen today in a small but meaty role in HBO’s Game of Thrones series filmed in the UK.  She has been in films far beneath her abilities like Repo Men and Intruders.

The time to bring Van Houten into American theaters with a strong role is long overdue.   Van Houten is exactly what the Best Actress prize of the Academy Awards is all about.  I’d love nothing more than to see another Verhoeven film made for an American audience with this gifted leading lady.

By all means order your copy of Black Book on Blu-Ray from Amazon.com, you'll be glad you did!

Watch the trailer below!