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Daniel Holtzclaw

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Daniel Hotlzclaw
BornDaniel Hotlzclaw
(1986-12-10) December 10, 1986 (age 38)
Enid, Oklahoma, U.S.
OccupationPolice officer
Criminal chargeRape, sexual battery, stalking, oral sodomy
Penalty263 years' imprisonment

Daniel Holtzclaw is a former Oklahoma police officer. He was convicted on December 10, 2015 of rape, sexual battery and other charges. The charges included sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy, stalking and rape, all targeted at black women. An all-white jury with eight men and four women was selected. Holtzclaw’s case has evoked national attention from black women activists and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Early life

Daniel Holtzclaw was born in Enid, Oklahoma, United States on December 10, 1986. Holtzclaw's father, Eric Holtzclaw, is a 17-year veteran of the Enid Police Department. His mother, Kumiko Holtzclaw, is unemployed. Hortzclaw joined the Oklahoma City Police Department upon graduation from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in criminal law after an unsuccessful attempt to get drafted into the NFL. Court records describe his race as "Asian or Pacific Islander."

Criminal charges and conviction

Holtzclaw is accused of sexually abusing multiple women after stopping them over the span of his police career, targeting ones from a poorer, overwhelmingly African-American portion of the city. Holtzclaw was fired from the force in January and his trial began on November 2, 2015.

The alleged offense that led to Holtzclaw's arrest happened around two o'clock in the morning on June 18, 2014, when Holtzclaw was near the end of his shift on the northeast side of Oklahoma City. During that time, police said Holtzclaw made a traffic stop, without calling assistance or telling his station, and he switched off his patrol car computer. The alleged victim, a 57-year-old grandmother, was stopped by Holtzclaw. Before forcing her to perform oral sex on him, she was asked to show him her private parts. Holtzclaw’s defense lawyers said that the accuser was stoned when she was stopped by him, implying her story is questionable.

In the hearing, it was said that Holtzclaw continued to stop women while they were strolling by the roadside. He would sometimes ask them whether they were carrying drugs, and instructed them to lift their shirts or drop their jeans to ensure they weren’t carrying any. In some cases, he checked under their dresses himself. Others, he messaged or contacted via Facebook asking to meet up later. It was alleged that Holtzclaw sometimes even went to his victims' homes, and professedly concentrated on specific areas in which the majority of the population is poor and African-American.

Prosecutors believe that Holtzclaw’s conduct escalated on March 14, when he stopped a woman known as C.R. In the following incident, which occurred a month later, he stopped another woman known as F.M. There he placed her in the backseat and questioned her on whether she had any illegal drugs and if she was involved in prostitution. Meanwhile, saying that he was running a check on her through the police system, Holtclaw kept telling F.M. that he needed to search her. Similar to the other affirmed victims’ reports, after putting her in the backseat, while asking questions, he assaulted her.

In court, prosecutors uncovered new DNA evidence that was found on a triangle-shaped spot on the inside of Holtzclaw’s uniform close to the zipper. This DNA test did not match those of any of the victims who came forward. After the hearing, his family made a statement that "The facts are that there is no DNA linking him to any of these women as far as was presented in the hearing."

Through the span of the examination, the number of accusers eventually totaled thirteen black women. Holtzclaw confronted 36 charges, including lawful offense sexual battery, assault, coercive oral sodomy, and stalking. On December 10, 2015 he was convicted on 18 of the charges, with the jury recommending that he serve 263 years in prison.

References

  1. "Ex-Oklahoma City Cop Daniel Holtzclaw Found Guilty of Rapes". NBC News. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-accused-raping-black-women-white-jury-article-1.2423160
  3. Jason Johnson. "The Holtzclaw Trial: When Rape Culture Meets #BlackLivesMatter". NBC News. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  4. "How Police Caught The Cop Who Allegedly Sexually Abused Black Women". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  5. Michael Martinez (10 December 2015). "Former Oklahoma City officer Daniel Holtzclaw found guilty of rape". CNN. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  6. "Daniel Holtzclaw trial: Standing with 'imperfect' accusers". BBC News. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  7. "How Police Caught The Cop Who Allegedly Sexually Abused Black Women". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  8. "Oklahoma ex-cop guilty of rape in sex abuse case". The Washington Post. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
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