A retired police officer will be forced to testify in the retrial of a woman accused of having her 4-year-old son murdered.
Debra Milke was convicted of hiring two men to shoot her son to death in 1989, but last year her conviction was overturned by a federal court.
The original case against Milke relied heavily on her alleged confession, which retired Phoenix Police Det. Armando Saldate did not record. Milke has always maintained she’s innocent and that she never confessed.
In the ruling overturning her conviction, a federal appeals court said Saldate’s credibility may be questionable.
Saldate had tried to get out of testifying in Milke’s retrial, set for next year. A lower court judge granted his request on the grounds of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But the state court of appeals ruled Thursday that Saldate must take the stand, a victory for prosecutors.