You Don't Need a Lawyer When They Say You Confessed, Even When You Ask For a Lawyer and You Say You Didn't Confess

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Debra Milke has been sittting for twenty years on Death Row in Arizona for murdering her child.  The conviction was based primarily on Milke's "confession" which Milke has consistently denied making.  In actuality two terrible men, an ex-boyfriend and another man killed the child and disposed of the body.  The only issue is whether Debra Milke was involved. 

The only evidence of the "confession" comes from aa Maricopa County homicide detective who testified at her trial that Milke confessed.  Oh, no, Bad Lawyer, you exclaim, the detective played the confession back for the jury?  Nope.  Oh no, Bad Lawyer, you say:  he showed them Milke's written confession?  Nope.  Detective Armando Saldate also testified that Milke "waived her right to counsel."  Surely, Bad Lawyer, the Detective had this in writing?  Nope. 

There is no written confession, there's no recording of the confession, and there's no witness to Det. Saldante's collection of this confession--oh, and there's no written waiver of counsel.  Unusual, you bet it is.  Consistent with police procedure?  Nope.  Well, maybe Maricopa standards where investigative tools and eqiipment are reserved for investigating elected officials. 

Watch.



This extraordinary story comes by way of the very pro-police, anit-crime website Crime, Guns and Videotape. 

About the only hope Debra Milke has, is the intervention of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has previously reversed the U.S. District Court on technical issues will have a chance to issue a further ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Broomfield who has concluded that Milke's "Miranda Rights" were not violated. 

Here, we go again friends, the obsession with official State killing, has cost the state of Arizona "crates of money." and 20 years--and people like myself scratch our heads wondering how it is that the rights, freedoms and liberties applicable to most U.S. citizens are not available in Arizona, Texas, and Georgia.   For what?  To kill someone, someone who may not even be guilty of murder, who certainly didn't pull the trigger!

Boys and Their Toys--Kill a Man With Pepper Spray, That'll Be a Lawsuit

The Lee County, Florida Sheriff's Office took 62 year old, Nicholas Christie, a mentally ill Ohio man into cusotdy and pepper-sprayed him to death. 

The Lee County Sheriff deputies and jailers pepper-sprayed Mr. Christie 10 times in 42 hours.  Christie who also suffered from heart disease,naturally, had a heart attack and died.  The Lee County coroner called the death a homicide, according to a report at NapleNews.com. 

A lawsuit is being filed, following a "pre-suit" investigation as required under Florida law.

Judge Durwood Moore Is a Moron

Dickson County, Tennessee's, Judge Durwood Moore routinely pulls random spectators out of his courtroom, has them taken into custody, and has these citizens undergo urinalysis according to a report at courthousenews.com.  Judge Durwood Moore is a moron.

A federal lawsuit filed by Benjamin Marchant sets forth allegations that are too strange to be true, but  are true.  The Tennessee judicial disciplinary authorities have issued an order restraining Judge Moore.  No kidding.  Here's the question, why is this guy still a Judge?  I mean this isn't even arguable; when you become a Judge you take an oath to uphold the constitution.

Adding Up the Cost of Bad Ass Law Enforcement

The Harris County Commissioners have agreed to close the books on a lawsuit relating to their "Tough" Sheriff's deputies--wrongful arrest and deprivation of the rights of Harris County residents, Sean Carlos and Erik Ibarra.  That'll be $4 million dollars, thank you citizens of Harris County. 

According to the Houston Chronicle report Harris County Commissioner voted to approve final payment of attorney fees stemming form the incident, well let me quote the Chronicle:  "sheriff's deputies stormed the [brothers'] home, drew their guns, arrested them and seized their cameras after one of the brothers photographed a drug raid on a neighboring house. The county paid a $1.7 million settlement to the brothers. A judge also ordered the county to pay $1.4 million in fees to their attorney. Additional bills related to the case brought the tally to more than $4 million."

As I said before, this is one of the unanticipated results that the taxpayers get when they fall for the demagoguery of the "tough" law enforcement-bs. Like Arpaio and his boys in Arizona, stealing legal documents from public defenders deprives the rights of criminal defendants who can challenge any subsequent conviction based on this misconduct with the result that they are free to commit crimes they would not have committed if Arpaio and his deputies had played by the rules. We give up our ideals in exchange for violating rights, and worse paying the attorney fees of victims of the abuse of police power.

Why I Hate the Cops--Part 43

The Gotahmist and the New York Daily News are reporting on the case of the Brooklyn, NY male cop who conduct a series of unauthorized strip searches using his iPhone to obtain pics of the woman in his custody.  Claudia Bova was strip search at the Brooklyn station house.  This specific police district house was the  locus for a recent major scandal involving 4 rogue narcotics officers and the resultant dismissals of hundreds of drug cases.  The cop in this instance is alleged to have used both a police camera to photograph Ms. Bova in a station bathroom, then  his own iPhone according to the reports in the Daily News.   Purportedly he needed to "document" a  navel tattoo.  That's a federal lawsuit.

http://gothamist.com/2009/12/17/brooklyn_cop_accused_of_taking_cell.php

and

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/17/2009-12-17_cop_sued_over_strip_pics_woman_sez_bklyn_officer_snapped_midriff_tattoo_with_cel.html?

And From Missoula, Montana . . .

The Missoula, Montana police have agreed to pay a local physician $365,000. for,--you know, the basic shit of beating the snot out of him for trying to assist a suicidal patient. That's right, the police arrested, charged, and jailed this good Samaritan; the police refused to provide him with emergency medical services when he had chest pains in jail; and , then released him without transportation to his car, home or office so that he ended up walking more than a mile to the hospital.  Subsequently, 68 year old, Dr. Walter Peschel was hospitalized for three days.

The settlement came on the eve of trial after a Federal magistrate imposed sanctions on the police when the video from the arrest via dashboard camera turned out to have been erased by a Missoula cop (the same police commander was later busted for having child porn on a department computer!)  Nice police force, huh?

Oh, and typical the Police tried to prosecute Dr.Peschel for obstructing police business but a Missoula jury acquitted him of those charges. 

Source:  http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_fd16c09e-e878-11de-b5f4-001cc4c002e0.html