Justice Gone Wrong--The Debra Milke Story — Transcript

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1. 0:08[Music]
2. 0:13we are here in Phoenix Arizona in this
3. 0:15beautiful part of the western United
4. 0:17States but the story I'm about to tell
5. 0:20you is shocking and horrible it's the
6. 0:23story of a lovely 4-year-old boy who was
7. 0:27taken out to the desert by two creeps
8. 0:29who shot him to death that happened just
9. 0:32before Christmas
10. 0:341989 but this is also the story of the
11. 0:37mother Deborah milky who was wrongfully
12. 0:40accused convicted and condemned to death
13. 0:43for this
14. 0:51crime I'm going to tell you why I am so
15. 0:54convinced Deborah milky is innocent she
16. 0:57was railroaded by a bad cop as a
17. 1:00journalist I investigated her case
18. 1:03visited her on Arizona's death row the
19. 1:06only evidence that implicated her at her
20. 1:09trial was Phoenix police detective
21. 1:12Armando salate claiming she confessed
22. 1:15but what we know for sure is two men
23. 1:18took her little boy out in the desert
24. 1:20and murdered him one of them Jim St
25. 1:24himself a father of a small daughter
26. 1:26rented a room of his apartment to
27. 1:29Deborah and her son the other killer
28. 1:32Roger Scott was a lifelong friend of
29. 1:35Styers and we know Styers wanted to have
30. 1:38a romantic relationship with Deborah now
31. 1:42Deborah milky was a financially
32. 1:44challenged sing mother in November 1989
33. 1:48she found a much better job across town
34. 1:51so she could afford her own two-bedroom
35. 1:54apartment and put Christopher in
36. 1:57kindergarten once Styer learned that he
37. 2:00was angry and he told her he didn't want
38. 2:04her to live but he never succeeded in
39. 2:07his quest for a
40. 2:09relationship however the Phoenix media
41. 2:11somehow reported that these two people
42. 2:14were lovers and the public believed it
43. 2:18and somehow they still believe it today
44. 2:21now when an execution date was set in
45. 2:24January 1998 it was especially
46. 2:27frightening for Deborah and she will
47. 2:30remember it forever as a
48. 2:34nightmare the moment that it really hit
49. 2:37me when I thought wow this is for Real
50. 2:42is when this doctor came and I didn't
51. 2:45know why he was there and then um he put
52. 2:48one of those uh tourniquet things around
53. 2:50my arm and said that he had to check my
54. 2:53veins and when I saw him do that I just
55. 2:56broke down because then I realized oh my
56. 3:00gosh the state really wants to do this
57. 3:02to me this ad began for me when I
58. 3:06visited my local library in Switzerland
59. 3:08and I found this book it was written by
60. 3:12renate Yanka it's a horrifying story
61. 3:16about the murder of her four-year-old
62. 3:19grandson and now her daughter Deborah
63. 3:22milky was convicted and is currently on
64. 3:25death row in Arizona waiting for her
65. 3:28execution
66. 3:30and by the way I have written my own
67. 3:33book about this
68. 3:39tragedy this is the perville women's
69. 3:42prison located west of Phoenix where
70. 3:45Deborah milky is sitting on a three-w
71. 3:48death row she is confined to a small
72. 3:51cell and is allowed one hour a day
73. 3:54outside for
74. 3:56exercise Sate goes to the panel County
75. 3:59Sheriff Department without a recorder to
76. 4:02interview a murder suspect he wanted to
77. 4:04set up a swearing contest where in the
78. 4:08court a jury would have to decide who's
79. 4:10telling the truth either the policeman
80. 4:12or the suspect and we know how that's
81. 4:14going to fall it's certainly going to
82. 4:16favor the policemen they're not equal in
83. 4:18the court I don't care what anybody says
84. 4:21next is he could have put in front of
85. 4:24her a piece of paper he had a pencil and
86. 4:26paper and he could have written out the
87. 4:28confession and said here sign here he
88. 4:30didn't do it because she wouldn't have
89. 4:32signed it he knew it she didn't confess
90. 4:35now not only that he could have put a
91. 4:37waiver form which you routinely put in
92. 4:39front of someone uh before they you have
93. 4:42them answer questions saying hey I
94. 4:44understand I have these rights I wave
95. 4:47them I will talk to you anyway there is
96. 4:49no waiver there's no waiver because he
97. 4:51knows she wouldn't have signed it next
98. 4:53he takes her to the central police
99. 4:55department uh at Downtown Phoenix that's
100. 4:58an over an hour drive
101. 5:00uh what does she say what does he record
102. 5:03nothing but he takes her through the
103. 5:05back door of the police department and
104. 5:07no press is all pre-arranged and warned
105. 5:10so that they can have a per walk and
106. 5:12show these defendants he brings Deborah
107. 5:15milky in grabs her by the arm just big
108. 5:18important arrest and behind her is
109. 5:20thyers and
110. 5:21Scott but the rub here is he's in she's
111. 5:24inside the central police headquarters
112. 5:27and there's tape recorders everywhere on
113. 5:29every floor and they also have video
114. 5:31equipment does he videotape her does he
115. 5:33say let's get this over again no why not
116. 5:37because he did not want the truth to get
117. 5:41out this case is grinding ever so slowly
118. 5:44before tonight's Circuit Court of
119. 5:46Appeals and from there it's going to be
120. 5:48delivered to the hands of the Supreme
121. 5:50Court they're splitting the finest of
122. 5:52hairs of what most people would call
123. 5:55Legal mumbo jumbo what seems to be
124. 5:57forgotten is the truth along with the
125. 6:00pathetic job done by defense lawyer Ken
126. 6:04Ray at Deborah's trial
127. 6:07[Music]
128. 7:28e for