They also prayed for Holtzclaw, asking God to help him find peace and help him realize that what he did was wrong.
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Defense attorney Scott Adams, who declined to comment after the verdicts, sought to use the criminal backgrounds of some of the victims to cast doubt on their testimony. Prater said his objections were overruled by the judge.
“Not only is this individual stopping women who fit a profile of members of our society who are confronted – rightly or wrongly – by police officers all the time”, argued Assistant District Attorney Gayland Gieger, according to BuzzFeed.
In a statement released on Thursday night, the Oklahoma City police department said the agency is “pleased with the jury’s decision”.
The month-long trial has attracted considerable attention in the USA for the questions it has raised about the intersection of race, justice and accountability in policing in America. We are proud of our detectives and prosecutors for a job well done.
The mother of a teenager who accused an Oklahoma City police officer of raping her clapped a string of guilty verdicts was announced.
– Son of Baldwin (@SonofBaldwin) December 11, 2015#DanielHoltzclaw was convicted on 18 counts and nearly no national media covered it. https://t.co/AIwiYZeCfz via @thedailybeast – Goldie Taylor (@goldietaylor) December 11, 2015Was just told that numerous victims of #DanielHoltzclaw were/are very upset at the 18 not-guilty verdicts. The jury acquitted him on another 18 counts.
The former officer cried openly in the courtroom and rocked in his chair as the verdict was being read.
Holtzclaw’s case was among those examined in an Associated Press investigation of sexual misconduct by law enforcement, a subject that police chiefs have grappled with for years. “Yet, inclusion of Black women’s experiences in social movements, media narratives, and policy demands around policing and police brutality is critical to effectively combating racialized state violence for black communities and other communities of color”.
That happened yesterday- sort of – when Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was found guilty of many counts of sexual assault against poor black women.
The first woman to come forward was a grandmother in her 50s, who said Holtzclaw pulled her over during a traffic stop on suspicion of drunken driving.
One woman testified while wearing orange scrubs and handcuffs because she had been jailed hours earlier.
“I didn’t think anyone would believe me”, one woman testified. The ages of the victims ranged from 17 to 57.
The jurors recommended a total of 263 years of prison time for Holtzclaw’s crimes.
Holtzclaw was ordered into custody. He was escorted shortly after the judge read the verdict. Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer, was facing dozens of…
Holtzclaw is scheduled to be sentenced January 21. All of them spoke up and spoke out against the man who violated them, and yet their credibility was questioned and they were criminalized, in a nation where Black women have faced rape in silence for centuries. Many had problems with drugs or criminal records.
The AP’s finding is undoubtedly an undercount of the problem of sexual abuse in law enforcement. “Black women’s lives matter”. It’s to be announced soon. Police misconduct, sexual assault and abuse of authority targeting women is not new, but punishment and accountability have been all too rare. She accused him of escorting her to the front door of her mother’s house.
Thirteen women accusing him of sexual assault testified in the trial. “I want that to be clear it doesn’t mean they didn’t believe the victims”. He says he’s confident the panel is working hard on a complicated case. He’s a police officer. Two days after the jury began its deliberations, there was a growing unease about the potential for a not-guilty verdict.
Hotzclaw, a 6ft 2ins man who played American football while at Eastern Michigan University, could face life in prison.
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As NewsOne originally reported, Holtzclaw was charged with 36 counts of rape, sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy and stalking.
