( CNN ) -- After 22 years on death row , Debra Milke is close to freedom . A jury convicted the Arizona woman , now 49 , of murder , conspiracy to commit murder , child abuse and kidnapping on October 12 , 1990 , less than a year after her 4-year-old son was found dead . A judge sentenced her to death a few months later . But those convictions and the related sentence were tossed out Thursday by a federal appeals court judge . In explaining his decision , Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals chided the prosecution for remaining `` unconstitutionally silent '' on the `` history of misconduct '' of its key witness , a Phoenix police detective . `` The Constitution requires a fair trial , '' Kozinski wrote . `` This never happened in Milke 's case . '' A day after seeing Santa Claus at a mall , young Christopher Milke asked his mother if he could go again . That was the plan , she said , when the boy got into the car with Milke 's roommate , James Styers . Styers picked up a friend , `` but instead of heading to the mall , the two men drove the boy out of town to a secluded ravine , where Styers shot Christoper three times in the head , '' according to Kozinski 's summary of the case . Styers was convicted of first-degree murder in the boy 's killing and sentenced to death . The detective , Armando Saldate , said the friend told him that Debra Milke was involved in a plot to kill her son . But neither the friend nor Styers testified to that assertion in court . In fact , `` no other witnesses or direct evidence ( linked ) Milke to the crime '' other than Saldate 's testimony . After pleading not guilty , Milke stood trial and tried to convince a jury that her account -- and not the detective 's -- was the true one . `` The trial was , essentially , a swearing contest between Milke and ... Saldate , '' said Kozinski . The detective testified he `` did n't buy '' Milke 's reaction after he informed her that her son was dead . After that , Saldate said he placed Milke under arrest . In a subsequent interrogation , she confessed that her role in the murder conspiracy was a `` bad judgment call , '' the detective said . But Milke offered a vastly different view of the interrogation and denied that she had confessed to any role in a murder plot . There was no recording of the interrogation , no one else was in the room or watching from a two-way mirror , and Saldate said he threw away his notes shortly after completing his report . `` The judge and jury believed Saldate , '' said Kozinski of the verdict and sentence . `` But they did n't know about Saldate 's long history of lying under oath and other misconduct . '' Specifically , the judge noted that the detective had been suspended five days for taking `` liberties '' with a female motorist and lying about it to his supervisors ; that judges had tossed out four confessions or indictments because Saldate had lied under oath ; and that judges suppressed or vacated four confessions because Saldate had violated a person 's constitutional rights . `` The state knew of the evidence in the personnel file and had an obligation to produce the documents , '' Kozinski said . `` ... There can be no doubt that the state failed in its constitutional obligation . '' The judge ordered `` the state '' to turn over Saldate 's personnel records to Milke 's lawyers , after which `` a police official '' must state under oath that everything has been disclosed and nothing has been `` omitted , lost or destroyed . '' Once this is done , a district court must order Milke 's release unless prosecutors tell the court within 30 days that they plan to retry her soon . `` In the balance hangs the life of Milke , '' Kozinski said , explaining the importance of his decision to overturn her convictions .
Debra Milke was convicted of murder in her son 's death , given the death penalty . There was no evidence tying her to the crime , but a detective said she confessed . This detective had a `` history of misconduct , '' including lying under oath , a judge says . `` The Constitution requires a fair trial . This never happened in Milke 's case , '' he adds .