Debra Milke freed after 24 years behind bars — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Thank you, Randy. A rarity for the legal
2. 0:02system as a death row inmate walks free
3. 0:05after 24 years behind bars. Deborah
4. 0:07Milky was convicted in the early 90s for
5. 0:09setting up the murder of her
6. 0:11four-year-old son. At the time, the
7. 0:12little boy thought he was going to visit
8. 0:14Santa. Instead, he was taken to the
9. 0:16desert by two men and shot in the head.
10. 0:19ABC15's Mary Ellen Rendez is live in the
11. 0:21newsroom with what happens next. And
12. 0:23Mary Ellen, obviously, this doesn't
13. 0:24happen very often. Any idea how many
14. 0:26times you've actually seen a death row
15. 0:28inmate released? You know, Stephen
16. 0:30Katie, there are two cases that come to
17. 0:31mind. That of Ray Cone, dubbed the
18. 0:33snaggletoothoth killer. He was released
19. 0:35in 2002 after DNA evidence proved he was
20. 0:38innocent. Max Dunlap and James Robinson
21. 0:40had their death row murder sentence
22. 0:42overturned in 1980 for the bombing
23. 0:44murder of an Arizona Republic reporter
24. 0:46in 1976. Now, Dunlap was convicted again
25. 0:50at retrial while Robinson walked free.
26. 0:52Now, some are speculating Deborah Milky
27. 0:54has a good chance to follow in
28. 0:56Robinson's footsteps. Defense experts
29. 0:58say the evidence against her is not only
30. 1:00weak, it's questionable. It comes down
31. 1:03to a he said she said Milky denies ever
32. 1:05confessing to her son's murder. While
33. 1:07Phoenix police detective with a
34. 1:09credibility issue claims she did.
35. 1:12The reason why this case was sent back
36. 1:15for a new trial was because the
37. 1:18prosecutor didn't disclose to the
38. 1:21defense that detective Salate had a
39. 1:23history of
40. 1:24lying along with other mis misconduct u
41. 1:28instances. They range from lying under
42. 1:30oath to violations of rights. Now, we
43. 1:32spoke with the Maropa County Attorney's
44. 1:34Office, and they tell me Deborah Milky's
45. 1:36retrial is scheduled for the end of the
46. 1:38month and will hinge on a hearing to
47. 1:40decide whether or not that detective
48. 1:42will be allowed to testify as to Milky's
49. 1:44confession. Now, coming up at six, why
50. 1:46some say Milky will never see that jail
51. 1:48cell again. Yeah, certainly that
52. 1:50detective's credibility is going to be
53. 1:52called into question. No doubt. Thanks
54. 1:53so much, Mary Ellen.