The Second trial of Jodi Arias and Her Next Defense

Jodi Arias and Travis Alexander in better times.

Phoenix, AZ—The trial of Jodi Arias was an entertainment driven spectacle.  It was a lot of things, but a fair trial it was not.  The defense lawyers were not up to the task and failed miserably.  I suspect that a lot of the sidebar rulings of Judge Stephens contributed to this enormous judicial fiasco.

Arias lost confidence in her lawyers but had no way to fire them and bring in new ones. She felt no options but to attempt to take charge.  Had she better lawyers I doubt she would have lost confidence.  Arias was smart enough to see they could not cut the mustard.

As a criminal investigator I specialize in self-defense cases.  The use of deadly force is based on the reasonable man standard.  Here Arias says she was abused and afraid but seems to have too little evidence to back up that claim.

Arias lied to police about the circumstances of Travis Alexander’s death.  Most Americans can’t even tell the truth about why they were late for work let alone admit killing someone.  There was nothing extraordinary about the lies of a frightened and confused Arias told. 

Most Americans don’t have a clue about their absolute right to use deadly force in self-defense.  Those that must resort to this kind of act, nearly always go into a panic.  They unnecessarily lie, cheat and steal to cover up a justifiable event.  These untrained and ignorant people later try to convince cops, prosecutors and juries of the necessity for the killing and it almost always falls on deaf ears.  

Obviously had Arias simply refused to talk to the cops and asked for a lawyer she’d never have been charged! Arias was nothing more than a dumb, panic driven kid that may well have been covering up a justifiable event.   

Remember there was no witness to the killing.  We must assume that the disparity of force between Arias and Alexander was more than sufficient to justify the use of deadly weapons.

With Arias there was yet another significant issue, her mental health.  Was she paranoid?  Was her paranoia a temporary thing brought on by PTSD?  When you take a combination of abuse, fear, a violent altercation and PTSD the reasonable man standard may change.  What really counts is what was in Arias’ mind at the time of the killing.  Frankly we are not clairvoyant!

The claim of Arias of justifiable self-defense has not been fully explored by this trial. The mental state of Arias may have placed her situation where she was convinced that she had no other options.  PTSD pushing Arias over the edge may have influenced her mental state.  Arias’ memory gaps seem contrived but traumatic events do cause those things to happen.  The jury could only guess the truth here and Arias was an exposed liar and juries hate liars.

In any event the burden of proof was somehow shifted in this flawed trial.  Arias was actually and unlawfully required to prove that her actions were justified!  In the end Arias could not meet that burden.  The state was not forced to prove that Alexander did not attack Arias. Proving a negative is always impossible.  Nobody could succeed in proving what happened sans independent witnesses.

The Arias jury should have been sequestered away from the media circus and the Internet.  The trial was nothing short of a legal lynching.  Arias far too easily took control of her defense away from her overwhelmed lawyers.  Judge Stephens should have intervened if for no other reasons over the questionable mental health issues plaguing Arias.  

A new trial is in order sans the TV cameras, circus and a want to be celebrity prosecutor.  This time the jury must be protected from the influences of the true crime TV celebrities and the courthouse lynch mob.

I think I could help Arias if there was funding.  I’d want full control to pick her new defense lawyer and for that lawyer to engage new experts.   I have two venerable and gifted lawyers in mind for the task and would love to work with them on a retrial.  They both are no strangers to death penalty cases.

Jodi Arias deserves a new trial at the minimum.  Calling her trial a circus was actually polite. That trial was un-American, unfair and disgraceful.  

We have felt bad for the members of the Alexander family for their sad loss.  We have treated them with full dignity and respect. On the other hand we have left the family and friends of Arias in the dirt and mud. That too was very wrong.

My Dental Care Experience at the UCLA School of Dentistry

Dr. Erica Gomez and her smiling patient

UCLA School of Dentistry 

Los Angeles, CA—I just completed my treatment at the prestigious UCLA School of Dentistry.   I chose this facility for really good reasons.  I had no dental insurance dropping it because it seemed worthless with regular dentists.  More importantly this school has it’s own dental lab, great professors and their gifted students.

There are no shortcuts or substandard materials used here.  The students are doing their absolute best under the watchful eyes of the professors.  Often the student will have a peer watching the procedure and that must bring out the competitive spirit of anyone.  When you think about it who watching the street dentists?  Where do they get their materials and dental lab work?  

Going to the dentist is never pleasant unless it’s an examination with no work required.  Even that brings apprehension.  When you think about filling cavities, getting deep cleanings or root canals or extractions, one word comes to mind, pain.  Nobody likes pain and when it’s over you’ve got to pay the bill.  That brings even more pain.

My dental student, Erica Gomez is an adorable young woman working to make her parents proud by her herculean accomplishment.   She was as gentle and careful as she could possibly be.  Erica was as good as it gets.  For me its was a positive experience despite my fear and loathing along with the seeming endless sound of the dental drill.

In less that a month Erica Gomez will become Dr. Gomez.  She can count on being unleashed during a miserable economy being saddled with huge student loans.  In addition to being a dentist she will be dealing with a paperwork blizzard of insurance forms.   No matter what her life will be a lot of things but easy really won’t be a part of that. 

Dr. Gomez will be helping people in many ways.  Dental health is also directly tied to physical health.  Your employment and station in life is also directly tied to your smile.  The cosmetic factor of dentistry is directly connected to your emotional health.

Dr. Gomez may be young but she’s got the latest and greatest dental education behind her now.   This young woman made a difference in my life that I won’t forget.

As for becoming a patient at this or other dental schools requires a screening and approval by the faculty.   The process is sometimes painfully slow because of too many patients and too few faculty members.  The end result here at UCLA was worth the wait and the fees charged.  The cost was at least 50% to 70% less than I would have paid anywhere else.

Even if you have to commute a serious distance to get your care at UCLA School of Dentistry it is worth it.

Jodi Arias is a Taxpayer’s Worst Nightmare

Phoenix, AZ—The modern day lynch mob is in place with their smartphones at the ready to capture their idea of judicial history.  The nearby streets are filled with satellite trucks and the TV studio tents for the celebrity media pundits.  The out-of-control media at its worst has already relentlessly tortured the hapless defendant. The Jodi Arias case has shown that human civilization has not improved since the beginning of mankind.

I really can’t understand the fascination of so many people for this run of the mill domestic killing.  Arias is no movie star, sports figure but just another under achiever caught up in a common crime.  The killing of her boyfriend is just not the same as the kind of crime we reserve for the death penalty or for that matter even life imprisonment.

The only thing we really know for sure is that Arias killed her sometime boyfriend with a great deal of anger and passion.  We also know that she lied and covered up her role in the killing.  Is that really so unusual?  People easily lie about the reasons they are late for work; is deception to avoid the greatest punishment provided by law somehow beyond our understanding?

Arias made some terrible decisions for sure.  In most jurisdictions her case would have ended in a plea agreement that would have netted her less than seven years in prison.  Arizona’s punishment for crime is as harsh as it gets in America.   Under normal conditions in Arizona, Arias probably deserves at least 20 years behind bars for her crime.  That’s certainly enough time to ruin her life, make her really miserable and satisfy most cries for retribution.

For a lot of people death would be easier to face than 20 years in an American prison.  The confinement, bad food, substandard medical care, inherent dangers and loneliness can easily become worse than a quick and painless death. 

The death penalty brings with it a huge price tag.  The public forgets that we have a Constitution and Bill of Rights that guarantees an appeal process that takes sometimes 30 years or more!  The legal fees for both the defense and prosecution are always well into millions of dollars and the defendants are always indigent.  It’s far cheaper to keep prisoners locked up than killing them.

A death penalty case has its advantages for prisoners; especially those that did not get fair trials or those who are actually innocent.   Death cases are overturned at a much higher rate than the non-death ones.  The courts are far less careful in prison only cases.

The shameful spectacle that has been the Jodi Arias trial is fraught with appeal land-mines.  The higher courts will be looking at every judicial ruling, juror misconduct incident, prosecutorial misstep and the tainted climate brought on by the circus atmosphere. 

This could all be avoided with a reasonable plea agreement right now.  Okay plea agreements only come before trials however no law exists to prevent them post trial.  Arias would also have to waive all appeal rights.

Would society really suffer if Arias were to simply to be sent to prison for 20 years with no rights to appeal?  What could be done with the millions of dollars saved?  How many young scholars could we send to medical school?  For you law and order types how may cops and prison guards could be hired with the money saved?

Ending the Arias case with a 20-year, non-appealable prison term would be too simple and cost effective to satisfy Arizona’s bloodthirsty politicians and lynch mob members.  These are in fact the same people that supported Gestapo tactics and the People’s Court of Germany 1933-1945.  

If we must have a death penalty it should be reserved for only the most heinous of murders with a much higher threshold of guilt than some jury’s reasonable doubt guess.  Would it be too much to ask for absolute proof before we take someone’s life? 

Screen Legend, Greta Garbo to be Portrayed By Carice van Houten!

Greta Garbo, left and Carice van Houten, right

Amsterdam, NL—Let me begin by confessing my fascination for beautiful elegant European women.  They know how just to dress, walk, talk, flirt and dazzle my imagination.   I was first exposed to them when I was drafted into the Army and sent to Germany long ago.  They still ring my bell today more than ever.

Legendary Swedish film siren Greta Garbo was the epitome of glamour, grace and sexy hot.  She was a natural for films that are still shown today.  A few years ago I discovered a woman with all of Garbo’s attributes when I saw Paul Verhoeven’s terrific film Black Book.  The female lead was Dutch actress, Carice van Houten.  In Black Book she sang, danced, swam, and acted in four languages in the World War Two thriller. 

I instantly fell in love with van Houten’s talent.  I also know that van Houten is destined to begin gathering Academy Awards as she has scooped up five of Holland’s coveted Golden Calf statutes.  She needs to be cast in more American films.

Van Houten has Garbo’s magnetism, charm and an amazing resemblance too.  That mixed with incredible acting chops and a gift for emulating several dialects makes van Houten perfect for being cast as the film icon. 

Screen International broke the story that van Houten is set to play Garbo in a biopic that she will also co-produce.   I don’t know enough about the film and the others being cast yet but know the bar will be set high.  I only wish I could land even a small a role in the film myself.  I know this will be a box office smash and bring van Houten to Hollywood’s most special red carpet.

I will borrow a published quote from van Houten; “I was raised with silent films. I have always maintained an endless fascination for that era,’ Van Houten told the magazine. ‘I am strongly drawn to her story, her art, her loneliness and her beautiful complex structure.’

Van Houten is best known in the USA for her roles in Valkyrie, Repo Men and Black Book and can currently be seen as Melisandre in HBO television series Game of Thrones.   

Debra Milke’s Wrongful Conviction and the Future Publicity Fallout

Goodyear, AZ—Debra Milke has languished on Arizona’s Death Row here for more than two decades.  She’s no stranger to unwanted publicity, nearly all of it being outrageous and libelous.

This story all began with Milke’s arrest by a really poor excuse for a cop.   Milke’s four year-old son Christopher was taken out to the desert and murdered by two men, James Styers and Roger Scott.  The cop, Armando Saldate quickly fabricated a claim of a confession that he swore under oath that Milke gave him. 

The reason for the perjury was simple, Saldate thought Milke was somehow involved in the murder and surmised he’d find the real evidence later.  Saldate needed something, anything to justify holding Milke in custody and the phony confession did the trick.

To Saldate’s chagrin no real evidence ever surfaced.  He was stuck repeating his lies under oath before a Grand Jury, a court and petit jury.  20 years later in January of 2010 Saldated lied again to a federal judge.   I’m convinced that by his own reprehensible conduct Saldate has been personally tortured with guilt and shame.  Unfortunately that’s the only punishment he’s received so far. 

We all can only imagine the horror of the arrest, confinement, bad food, abuse and abject loneliness of Milke’s miserable ride through the criminal justice system.   In jail and prison there is no privacy including the use of showers and the toilet.  Invasive and humiliating strip searches are an everyday ordeal.

Then over the years the flashing of video and images of Milke in newspapers and TV all connected to a despicable crime in which Milke had no involvement.  Publicity condemning her or even the broadcasts that raise issues of innocence all cause people to wonder if this woman is a terrible child killer.   In the end it’s all something nobody should face especially when they are innocent.

I suspect there is no correspondent anywhere that has produced more TV stories and documentaries than me on this sad case.  I’ve also written a feature film screenplay in addition to the thousands of words on this blog.   It’s what I chose to do for a living and this shocking, compelling story must be told.  I will see this through to the release of this victimized woman.

Milke’s story had every ingredient to drive publicity, books and films.  It made for as fascinating and by far the longest news story that I’ve ever worked on.  Had it not been for the media interest Milke’s case it may have very well have gone unnoticed until some candle light vigil the night before her execution. 

Milke will probably never be able to return to a normal life where people won’t point to her and gossip about her ordeal.  I hope most of it will be kind but unfortunately some of it won’t, as people will always wonder about the idea that’s Milke may have been involved with this disgusting murder.  

Milke has found fame but at a huge price.   For Milke disappearing in our small world will prove impossible.  I have no doubt she will exploit this in a positive and productive way.  How else can she deal with this disaster?

So far only the most unflattering pictures of this otherwise attractive woman are displayed in the media.  Jail and prison mugshots are hardly elegant or even remotely pleasing.  For Milke to see these pictures and images of her in chains must be  pure torture.

Frankly I want more than anything to broadcast the first video of Milke walking out of the best beauty salon wearing the latest fashionable clothing she’s been denied for decades.  Actors and most celebrities choose their exposure.  For Milke this was anything but a choice.   If the public must see Debra Milke, from now on it will be on her terms.

Taking a look at Milke’s mugshot above and you can see a human being.   There’s no make up, nor is there a salon hairdo for her on Death Row.  She appears as a woman with a soul that glares right through her eyes.  Milke could be your sister, daughter, mother, friend, lover, or for that matter anyone from your inner circle.  She could even be you. 

Milke was deprived of a fair investigation, prosecution, trial and was relentlessly tortured by a broken criminal justice system.  We all want to believe this kind of injustice is not tolerated at least in America.   However in recent times we’ve been awash in wrongful convictions.  What can we do to prevent ruined innocent lives in the future?

Milke will realize that like it or not her ordeal will be out in the public domain long after we’ve left this earth.  The story of the crime and the massive failures of our criminal justice system will not soon be forgotten.   Accountability for the injustice or a lack of it in the Milke case will be the topic of conversations for decades. 

Milke has no current professional skills because of being locked away from cell-phones, computers and such.  Challenges like figuring out how to operate a universal remote control for a modern wide screen TV and Blu-Ray player are in her immediate future.  Milke needs to earn income but more importantly she must find her own productive, creative and passionate way to serve a purpose for society.

Now Debra Milke will be in demand as a public speaker for lawyer’s groups and such across the United States and Europe.   This event changed her life and she has learned to adapt by necessity.  Milke has been a survivor, keeping her sanity and her written communication skills in spite of her ordeal.  At 49, what will her future and occupation dictate? 

Milke can be the greatest anti-death penalty advocate ever.  Milke will undoubtedly inspire lawyers, law students, investigators and journalists to better safeguard the rights of innocents.  I know of at least one  former President of Switzerland that told me she wants to me her. 

I must admit that Milke’s misfortune has inspired me to not stand idly by and let a human rights nightmare happen right before my eyes.  It is something that’s very easy to do.  I have had to ask myself often, if I screamed about this case louder and earlier could I have made a difference?  Sadly I know now that the answer is yes. 

Right now I’m waiting breathlessly to hear a Maricopa County judge pronounce on the record that this nightmare is over.  That day may be only days or weeks away now depending on how fast Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery moves this inevitable process.

Why We Must Purge Our Whitehouse of Those Chicago Thugs, Thieves and Whores Now.

Washington, DC—As a nation we were in a crisis because of eight years of a disappointing presidency under George W. Bush.  He engaged in two wars we should have avoided.  We allowed our government to reward Wall Street criminals at every opportunity and the taxpayers took a huge beating.  The real estate bubble broke and bled over millions of Americans.

Americans wanted change and looked to an unknown man with a broad smile who made vague promises for hope and change.  Nobody could really guess just what his agenda was but anything seemed better than Bush.  Barack Obama was a Chicago Machine Democrat.  This is not your father’s Chicago Machine but the new breed of hard corps Leftists using long established and proven techniques of voter fraud, bribery and extortion to win elections and hold office.

Obama somehow escaped any real vetting and his birth origin questions seemed to help rather than sideline the candidate.  Absolutely every expert that has examined it has declared his birth certificate a forgery.  That eligibility issue became nothing more than a distraction met by the smirks of those supporting Obama. 

We all have learned to judge a man by the company he keeps.  Obama’s mentors were to a one, Communists, criminals or terrorists and his closest religious advisor was and is a hateful bigot.  Obama bought his lavish, Chicago Hyde Park home from a well-connected political fundraiser and now imprisoned criminal Anton “Tony” Rezko for a “fire sale” price. 

Obama was very close to now imprisoned Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the fellow that was nearly sold his vacant Senate seat, Jessie Jackson, Jr.  who is now also a convicted criminal. 

Helping and advising Obama and his political campaign were Chicago’s Terrorist Twosome, William “Bill” Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn of the 1960’s SDS Weather Underground bombing fame. 

Who could ever forget Obama’s closest religious advisor, the infamous Rev. Theodore “God Damn America” Wright.  Wright was and is a nasty and racist man that simply preached hate.

We can’t forget how Obama sidestepped a normal Senate vetted cabinet in favor of a group of “Czars” he hired in secret that he brought in to run our nation.

Obama wasted no time is doling out hundreds of billions of our tax dollars to now failed companies as rewards for their political loyalty to him.  The job creation benefits of these corrupt handouts were non-existent. 

The Liberal Media turned their eyes far away from all of the disturbing signs.  As for the historic agenda of America’s Democratic Party there are no victories at all. 

Instead of getting out wars Obama found new ones to engage.  Instead of repealing the dreaded Patriot Act, Obama made it even more tyrannical if that were possible.  Obama then ended the Posse Comitatus Act allowing for our military to police or make war on Americans here at home. 

The final insult was the NDAA that authorized the indefinite detention without trial or the right to a lawyer of Americans here at home.  We somehow managed to give this strange man with the broad smile ABSOLUTE POWER over our children and us.

Our Death Penalty is awash in a crisis of wrongful convictions and that has not gotten a single notice from the Whitehouse.

Our failed Drug War continues to provide Drug Lords and Drug Czars financial Nirvana while people innocent people are killed at an alarming rate.  Obama’s Whitehouse has avoided this issue at all cost. 

GITMO is still open despite Obama’s promises to close it.  Holding prisoners without charges or trials is simply wrong and un-American but no movement can be seen from Obama.  Are Americans at risk for more random Muslim bombings over this?

The Whitehouse and the appointed Homeland Security Director, Janet Napolitano, have criminally obstructed our immigration laws.  They are pushing hard for amnesty that would decimate the financial stake of all of America’s legal immigrants and African-American poor.   They would be forced to compete for jobs and entitlements with hordes of uninvited trespassers breaking our laws.

Now I must really make the comparison of the worst despotic leaders of the world that all came in with a false appearance of being peace loving, benevolent and kind. They gave us the worst government sponsored holocausts.  What’s past is prologue and we humans never seem to understand that.  We never learn from our mistakes.

Obama’s own media lapdogs have discovered that the Obama Administration’s been spying on them and unleashing the IRS on those considered disloyal.   The media has been told what to report by the Whitehouse and they’ve followed orders.  Having their phones tapped has rewarded them all. Historically government agents tap the phones of news editors and reporters to learn secrets of extra-marital affairs, homosexuality and tax dodging along with any other issues that enable extortion efforts. 

Will the media continue to turn a blind eye to Obama’s tyranny?  Perhaps Obama’s media lapdogs are already victims of Chicago style extortion?   That well may explain their reluctance to report on Obama’s bogus birth certificate, the horrors of the Fast and Furious Scandal or the Benghazi Slaughter and subsequent cover ups.

Latest Update on Debra Milke as of May 14, 2013

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Debra Milke

Today, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery has indicated that Attorney General Tom Horne declined efforts to further petition against the actions of the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals.  That court set aside the convictions and death sentence of Debra Milke.

There is now a single matter of the enforcement of an order for the Phoenix Police Department to turn over any and all records they have regarding former detective Armando Saldate to the defense before a federal judge.  This issue should be resolved very quickly.

Montgomery then has 60 days in which to seek a retrial of Milke.  Today Montgomery informed reporters that he was looking for ways to settle the matter without the expense of a retrial.  He also acknowledged that do to the passage of time and other problems retrying the case now would be very difficult.

Settling the case seems to suggest a plea agreement with Milke.  I’m reasonably convinced that will never happen.  Milke is represented by two top Arizona lawyers, Mike Kimerer and Lori Voepel

I expect Milke to be transferred from Perryville Prison's Death Row to the Maricopa County Jail within as little as a week or maybe two.  She will be brought before a judge for a status hearing.  If there is somehow a retrial effort Milke will be entitled to a bail hearing.  The normal bail issues such as danger to the community, proof being evident and the presumption being great do not exist now making release on bail a likely option. 

I’ve personally investigated all of Montgomery’s options and they show no promise for a successful retrial.  Evidence beyond the words of a discredited, deceitful and rogue cop does not exist.  The more they try to stir this pot of excrement the worse it will smell.  

I hope that Montgomery can find a graceful exit that will not cost taxpayers more because of yet another bad faith prosecution of this woman.

  

Debra Milke’s 23 Years of Hell on Earth

Goodyear, AZ—In this hot dusty town just west of Phoenix sits the Perryville Prison.  It was built in 1980 to relieve overcrowding in the state’s rapidly growing prison system.  It began with a population of all men.  It was intended to be only a medium security prison.

Women serving time in Arizona were housed at an old Phoenix motel sitting on the Northwest corner of 32^nd and Van Buren Streets.  The State converted the motel to a prison but inside it was still a motel by all appearances.  The Drug War had this facility nearly bursting from overpopulation.  Today women are housed in the much larger Perryville and now it’s an all women’s prison.

Professionally, I’ve been in countless jails and prisons in scores of states.  I’ve eaten in their staff dining areas and have even slept in them overnight on occasion.  Along the way I have sat in the Cook County Jail’s well-used electric chair and Arizona’s Gas Chamber in Florence.  I’ve also been inside modern lethal injection rooms in Arizona, Texas and Illinois.

On December 3, 1989, I was asked to get inside Maricopa County’s new Madison Street Jail to interview Debra Milke.  She’d just been arrested so she was in the receiving area finishing up the booking procedure being photographed and fingerprinted.  I could see the remains of black fingerprint ink on her fingers.  We were given a quiet corner inside the “Horse shoe” area to talk privately.  We sat on a small wooden bench and talked.  I taped the entire interview using a hidden tape recorder.

Milke was accused of a crime that placed her at the lowest possible social level in a correctional setting.  She was an accused baby killer.  The staff and inmates assumed her guilt for the monstrous crime and treated her accordingly.  I’ve heard accounts of this treatment from Milke, Maricopa County Jail detention officers, lawyers and a decade later Milke’s own mother. 

Milke was a celebrity pariah in jail. She was really hated.  Although she was going through incredible misery Milke was personable and gracious with everyone.   Many staff members of the jail grew to like and believe in her.  Other’s just wanted to see Milke dead. 

Particularly in the beginning, fellow inmates tampered with Milke’s food.  One such incident stands out to me as incredibly horrible and cruel.  I’m not sure that a detention officer was not involved in the incident.  For now those details are locked in my screenplay, Railway to Death Row, The Debra Milke Story.

It was on August 1, 1990, the day before Milke was sentenced to the gas chamber; I again interviewed her for over an hour and a half with a crew from Channel 10.  This time it was on camera.  This took place at the facility located at 35^th and Durango Avenues. 

Milke spent most of a year in the Maricopa County jail in a pre-trial and conviction situation.  When she was sentenced to death they transported her to Perryville.  At the time Perryville had men and women in separate areas. 

The Santa Maria Unit housed the new one-woman death row.  Later the men were moved out and a maximum-security area was delegated as Death Row inside the Lumley Unit.  Two other women eventually joined Milke on this new Death Row.  They were each caged in separate 12X7 foot cells. 

Perryville has no execution chamber.  A condemned woman would have to be transported to the prison in Florence, Arizona for execution.  Milke of course was sentenced to the gas chamber but the method was changed to lethal injection and she made the required choice to go with the hot needle.  The gas chamber still awaits condemned prisoners that have not elected for lethal injection.

The only woman to ever be executed in Arizona was on February 21, 1930.  Eva Dugan was hanged for killing her boss.  Her hanging took place at the old CB2 Cell House gallows. Dugan was somewhat overweight and the hangman botched the event as the noose decapitated her.  Dugan’s head was sent rolling at horrified spectators.  Soon authorities sought less garish ways to execute the condemned and brought in lethal gas and today IV poisons.

Perryville has no air conditioning for the inmates, only evaporative coolers that can’t keep up with the sweltering summers.  Milke is limited to three showers per week and had to decide to sleep on the concrete floor where it’s cooler or in her sweat filled bunk.

Milke gets lots of mail much of it from Germany where people abhor the death penalty.  Milke has no computer to help reply to the letters and instead writes them in longhand.  Milke’s writings contain no misspellings, are grammatically correct and her penmanship is downright pretty. 

Her life is absolutely solitary confinement.  She sees staff members at meal times when her food is delivered.  She is chained up like an animal whenever she leaves her cell for visits or exercise.

Imagine decades without hugs or a reassuring hand on yours during difficult moments.  This woman has spent the very best years of her life in a Gulag.  She came in vibrant and young.  She will soon leave middle-aged and menopausal complete with white hair.

None of us have walked in Milke’s shoes.  I can’t help but wonder what trauma she will face in public crowds today.  She’s never operated a modern computer or cell phone before.  She’s been reduced to cutting her own hair using a nail clipper because she has no other way.

I think of a nice German TV (ARD) reporter I worked with on this story about a year ago.  She was affluent, traveled and cultured.  She quickly noticed that there was an Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Salon at the Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix.  She could not wait to book some time there for the treatment.

I thought of Milke and how terrific it could be for her to spend a day at the Red Door getting ready to face a new world she’s never seen.  Milke has been wearing only bright orange jumpsuits and sneakers for over two decades.  I can’t imagine she does not long to dress up to the nines for an event or social setting.  Milke has lots of clothing, pre-1989 but now she will need a new wardrobe.  Restaurants, entertainment venues and technology will all have surprises for Milke who’s been locked in a time capsule for so long.

Milke has great adventures and challenges ahead.  She will never get those years of her life returned.  She will move on and make the best of the time she has left.   Just how will people react to Milke today? 

How could the lies of a dirty cop do so much damage?  Why did it take nearly 24 years to end this woman’s incredible nightmare?