Aschaffenberg, Germany --it was December 1968 when after being drafted by the Army I wound up in this beautiful hamlet.  I was just about 15 miles from Frankfurt and was blessed to be assigned there as a medical corpsman. It was Christmas time and I was in a strange land far away from home.  I decided that since I was a guest in  this nation I'd act like one.  I was compelled to learn the customs, language and culture.  I stayed far away from fellow soldiers if for no other reason I liked the elegant German babes better.   I soon found that the German people were incredibly kind to me.  I made some wonderful new friends and got an education few Americans ever get.   The 18 months I spent in Germany  was the very best time of my life.  I traveled everywhere I could.  The money exchange rate was four Marks to the Dollar then. It was truly an adventure!  If I made a mistake it was not staying there an...

The media crush after court Milke and her legal team Elevator Selfie With The Woman of The Hour! Cases before Judge Mroz Today The Kind of Ankle Bling You Don't Want! Phoenix, AZ —I was in Courtroom 7D today to watch Judge Rosa Mroz enter her final orders on the Murder case of Debra Milke . Before the judge took the bench I was greeted by a warm hug from Milke on this extraordinary day.   There were smiles and some tears during this somewhat emotional event. I asked Milke to show me her ankle monitor she was required to wear since September of 2013.   She called it a sign of her Freedom, rather than an inconvenience.    She lifted the leg of her slacks to show it to me and I took the last picture of that device before a probation officer in a private area of the court removed it. Germany sent reporters from ARD, RTL and Der Spiegel Magazine.   There were cameras galore when Milke and her lawyers left the court. Milke will be at ...

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

Phoenix, AZ —Prosecutors went to the Court of Last Resort to salvage their soiled reputations and that of a disgraced former cop. Finally Debra Milke is free even though she already paid a price far greater than that of most convicted murderers in America.  It was not just Prosecutorial Misconduct that freed Milke but it was really about her innocence.   Had there been a retrial there was not a scintilla of a chance they'd have re-convicted Milke.  This was just nothing more than an "Hail Mary" effort to limit corrupt official's liability under the doctrine of  Collateral Estoppel .  That's legalese that would decree in a civil lawsuit that since the judge let the trial commence, that the cops and prosecutors were acting in good faith.  This has been a 25 yearlong odyssey that began December 3, 1989.   That day I met Milke as she was being booked into the Madison Street Jail on a charge of murdering h...

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 Milke .  James 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 ...

Carice Van Houten Amsterdam, NL —One evening nearly three years ago I discovered Carice Van Houten .  I was looking for something to watch on cable TV and flipping my remote control.  The Encore Channel was just beginning what became my favorite film of all times, Black Book . I watched this film that involves three languages, Dutch, German and English with English subtitles. I speak German but unfortunately no Dutch.   The film recounted actual historical events in Nazi occupied Holland during the war.  The Dutch Underground forces fought the Nazi’s courageously through sabotage and their protection of Jews from forced deportation, to what we now know were extermination camps. Carice Van Houten played a Jewish cabaret singer, Rachael Stein who was hiding from the Nazis.  She has an austere life with a Dutch family that tried to convert her to their Christian faith.  She was waiting out the war that was turning against Hitler’s force...