The charges, which stem from the assault of eight different women, painted the portrait of an abusive police officer who intentionally targeted black women and sexually assaulted them while threatening arrest.
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Daniel Holtzclaw, 29, was convicted in December on 18 of the 36 counts he had been facing – including four counts of first-degree rape. The newspaper reported that the 263-year sentence would include credit for the time that Holtzclaw has already served.
“I think the court of criminal appeals when the get the full record and they can see everything that happened hopefully he’ll get some relief or get the relief that he deserves”, said Adams. He rocked back and forth in his chair, sobbing, as the judge read the verdict, which arrived after 40 hours of jury deliberation. Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police office…
Holtzclaw’s attorney, Scott Adams, said that while the sentence wasn’t a surprise.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said Holtzclaw was not a law officer who committed crimes, but rather “a rapist who masqueraded as a law enforcement officer”.
The Associated Press does not identify victims of sex crimes without their consent and is not naming the teenager, but Ligons spoke publicly about the case and agreed to be identified.
The case drew national attention because of the race of the victims. “This about the victimization of women no matter what color, and that predators are out there not just going after compromised African American women but also compromised Native American women, Hispanic women, Asian women and white women”.
Thirteen women testified against the former officer at his trial past year, saying he forced them to perform sexual acts on him. The filing said that if there is additional DNA proof despite the government’s representations to the contrary, and if there are other people who came forward and falsely claimed that they were one of the victims, then deliberate misrepresentations we made not only to the defense counsel but the court. He was able to target marginalized women who believed they wouldn’t be believed if they went to the police.
Adams filed a request for a new trial or evidentiary hearing for Holtzclaw late Wednesday, but it wasn’t immediately clear when Henderson will rule on the motion.
Holtzclaw’s lawyer said prostitutes and drug abusers misconstrued his efforts to help, and that many came forward only after police said an investigation showed that they might be victims. In states that do decertify officers, reporting requirements vary.
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Police tracked Holtzclaw’s movements via Global Positioning System to confirm that he’d been to the homes of the victims and to corroborate other evidence against him.
