Showing posts with label Tom Horne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Horne. Show all posts

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Former AG Tom Horne Did Right By Debra Milke

Former Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne
Phoenix, AZ—When the 9th 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:

Friday, March 15, 2013

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 MilkeJames 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.