🚀 go-pugleaf

The following letter was brought into our store by a woman who knows the 
man who wrote the letter.  She typed it for him and asked us to try to 
distribute it.  Please use the address at the end of the letter for 
correspondence.  Thank-you.

�On October 18, 1982, I was arrested and charged with the first degree 
murder of Robert Richardson, Jr. even though I had no knowledge of his 
death.  I was taken to the Clearwater, Florida police station and 
charged with his murder by an over zealous detective.  At the police 
station, Detective Peter Fire, told me that he had overwhelming evidence 
as to my guilt.  I was told that four people had positively identified 
me as the person they had seen repeatedly hit Richardson in the head 
with a cinder block, that I had the victim�s blood on my clothing and 
person.  Also that a couple had come forward stating that I had admitted 
killing Richardson and asked them to be my alibi.  I told detective Fire 
that none of what he said was true and to get his story straight.  I 
fully expected to be told that a mistake had been made---but that was 
not the case.  

While incarcerated in the Pinelles county jail waiting to go to trial, I 
faced total opposition in  my quest to learn the facts of Richardson�s 
death.  The court appointed defense attorneys assigned to represent me 
were telling me that the evidence was over-whelming as to my guilt.  
They advised me to take a plea bargain or to plead insanity.  None of 
them would help me to obtain the facts.  My pleas of innocence fell of 
deaf ears.  On June of 1983, I was forced to stand trial with totally 
unprepared and inept court appointed legal counsel.  Since my attorney 
was inept, he could not put on a defense.  The jury heard what was 
presented as overwhelming evidence as to my guilt  I tried 
unsuccessfully to dismiss my attorney during trial.  I also stood and 
shouted to the jury that I was being �railroaded� but the jury was left 
with no alternative but to convict.  They also voted to sentence me to 
death.  Judge Susan Schaeffer did this In July of 1983.

The appellate process has so far proven to be another farce and mockery 
of the criminal justice system.  A court appointed appellate attorney 
filed nine issues in my initial appeal.  Only two of these issues dealt 
with trial error and both were frivolously raised.  The other seven 
issues dealt with the sentencing phase of my trial.  After the initial 
appellate process ran it�s course through the state courts with all the 
issues being denied, I would be given different state mandated appellate 
attorneys to file what is known as a (3.850) Post Conviction Relief 
Appeal.  I had a two year time limit in which to file my (3.850) appeal.  
Yet, in September of 1987, the Governor of Florida signed my death 
warrant scheduling my execution for November, just weeks before my 
deadline to file my (3.850) appeal came due.

During the two year period of preparing to file my (3.850) appeal.  My 
attorneys proved to be a great help to me.  They provided me with a 
transcript of the trial record, police reports, and copies of the 
depositions my trial attorneys took from the state�s witnesses.  With 
this information I was finally able to help myself and my attorneys to 
piece together the facts.  When I received a copy of my (3.850) appeal 
while on death watch, I was elated.  It contained evidence of my 
innocence and of being railroaded.  The evidence would totally discredit 
the alibi witnesses, the eye witness identification, the blood test 
results, plus show misconduct by the states attorneys and the 
Clearwater, Florida Police Department.  Not to forget the ineptness of 
my court appointed attorneys to bring the facts to light.

My elation with my (3.850) appeal would be short-filed.  Judge Susan 
Schaeffer would grant me a stay of execution on the sentencing issue of 
my appeal.  She refused to hear the trial issues--her rationale was that 
it did not matter that I could discredit the eye witnesses and the blood 
results--stating that it did not matter that the rest of the evidence 
was still overwhelming as to guilt.  Her erroneous and even unethical 
ruling came at a time when another man was receiving national media 
coverage for the gross misconduct in his case--by the Clearwater, 
Florida police  and explicitly Detective Peter Fire.  The rationale 
behind Judge Schaeffer�s ruling of refusing to hear my trial issues 
becomes highly questionable as to whether she abused her judgeship or 
not.  I maintain she did!

The Florida Supreme Court did uphold Judge Susan Schaeffer�s unethical 
ruling of not hearing my trial issues.  On July 19,1993, my Habeas 
Corpus appeal was filed in Tampa, Florida district Court.  My faith in 
the legal system has been traumatically shaken and unless, I too, 
receive media attention and support in the scrutiny of the facts of my 
case, I fear that the Tampa, Florida District Court will uphold Susan 
Schaeffer�s erroneous ruling that I am not entitled to relief on the 
trial issues.  I already know this court can be notoriously slow ruling 
on death penalty cases.  The case before mine has sat idle in this court 
since 1989 while mine is going on two and a half years.  Without support 
and media coverage of my case, I fear many more years will pass adding 
to the abuse I have already endured.  I have state mandated attorneys 
that are more friends of the court than zealous advocates.  There are 
many conflicts with this type of legal representation, but, at present 
it is all I have.  Although with the support and media coverage of my 
case, these attorneys will no longer have their hands tied and will have 
to give me the zealous advocacy they swore to uphold.

Tom Sawyer had private appellate attorneys.  He was fortunate enough to 
get his case highlighted on ABC�s World News Tonight.  He has since been 
vindicated of murder and received a substantial settlement.  Had he not 
been fortunate enough to have private attorneys and get his case covered 
by the media, maybe Judge Susan Schaeffer would have ruled differently 
in my case.  I have written numerous letters to both Diane and Forrest 
Sawyer of ABC explaining everything contained within this outline of my 
case.  Including information about the Tom Sawyer case which was 
highlighted by their network and helped him to be vindicated.  Their 
failure to reply is typical of the apathetic responses and non response 
of all the medias I have sought help from.  Now, I hope with this 
opportunity to appear on the Internet that the media and legal system 
will no longer be able to ignore me.

Please help me to build a network of support--help me to E-mail and link 
to media world-wide the location of my material about my case.  Help me 
to stay on-line with this material so I can vindicate myself.  Thank 
you.  Individual correspondence can be forwarded through the following 
address.�
Milo Rose c/o D. E. Burke
P.O. Box 9004
Red Bluff, CA 96080

Thank you, Milo Rose