A Superior Court judge had denied a request by an Arizona woman who is charged with her son’s murder to visit her sick mother in Germany.
Saying she was sympathetic to Debra Milke’s need to see her mother, Judge Rosa Mroz denied her permission to make the trip, out of concerns about her power to make Milke return to the United States.
Milke is charged with hiring two men to kill her 4-year-old son, Christopher, in 1989. She faces a February trial.
Milke is free on bond after an appeals court threw out her earlier conviction in the case.
The case against her was largely based on her alleged confession to a now-retired police detective. He did not record the confession and has had his credibility called into question.
Milke denies confessing to the crime and maintains her innocence.