Former OKC cop Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted on 18 counts of sexual assault crimes against eight black women, resulting in a 263 year sentence. At the time we didn't really look into the story, it looked like the system working as it should to remove a very bad apple from the force.
But National Review Senior Editor and syndicated conservative columnist Michelle Malkin is saying otherwise in a story released this week and an upcoming two part story on the new Mark Levin TV channel. Malkin claims she has reviewed the court records, testimony, and discovery documents, including interviewing the lead detectives, community activists, a DNA expert, and friends and family of Holtzclaw and has found a lot of troubling loose ends. The local reaction was swift, a billboard company was forced to pull down a billboard that asked a simple question "What if he didn't do it?"
Malkin says that prosecutors didn't present a single corroborating witness or a single piece of forensic evidence showing that the 36 sexual assaults occurred. It is said that Holtzclaw was forthcoming and consistent in his story when interviewed by the detectives after the first allegation was reported. He was completely cooperative, agreeing to a polygraph, providing DNA samples, even signing a waiver to search his home, his computers, and his phone.
As is usual the detectives lied about what they already had but Holtclaw continued to ask that "everything" be done. The initial allegation was recorded by a nearby camera system but was too grainy and distant to confirm anything other than a traffic stop occurred. Malkin described the location as anywhere but the place that a serial predator would choose to commit such an act.
No DNA was found during the examination of the first accuser. Fingerprinting and DNA tests just hours after the traffic stop of the squad car didn't back up the woman's claims of how she was ordered to place her hands on the car during the assault.
The other accusers were literally hunted down by the detectives who told the accusers that they had a tip that the women could be victims. Of course twelve of the thirteen accusers are suing the City of OKC, represented by Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown's family attorney.
Malkin gave a list of the accusers and their rap sheets:
–Convicted felon Sherry Ellis, who testified under oath at a preliminary hearing that her attacker was "black" and short (Holtzclaw is light-skinned and 6'1″ tall), and who could not identify that attacker as Holtzclaw while he sat in the courtroom.
–Convicted felon Tabitha Barnes, who described Holtzclaw as "dark-skinned" and had not reported any inappropriate behavior — until a sex-crimes detective informed her about the Holtzclaw investigation, supplied her with a date and she changed her story. Barnes testified positive for PCP on the morning she testified at trial. She had also ingested hydrocodone and marijuana.
–Carla Raines, who denied seven times she had been the victim of any inappropriate police conduct — until a sex-crimes detective informed her about the Holtzclaw investigation and she changed her story to claim that he had forced her to expose her breasts.
–Convicted felon Terri Morris, a drug addict diagnosed as a "paranoid schizophrenic with depressive features" who couldn't pick out Holtzclaw from a line-up and described him as having skin with a "dark color," either "Indian" or "Irish" or maybe "white" and in his "thirties, forties, I don't know, fifties." She also misidentified Holtzclaw's patrol car, told the investigators to "leave me alone," and called their questions "bulls—."
–Convicted felon Shardayreon Hill, who had been rushed to the hospital in December 2013 at the behest of Holtzclaw and his assisting officers after she crushed a vial of PCP in her mouth and spilled more PCP on her skin. Hill called police in September 2014 alleging Holtzclaw had sexually assaulted her — only after the Ligons allegations went public and only after she faced felony charges for destroying evidence and intent to distribute PCP.
–A.G., a 17-year-old girl who excitedly told her mother that Holtzclaw was a "hot cop" with whom she was going to go on "dates." She came forward to allege that Holtzclaw vaginally raped her — but only after her mother was contacted by sex-crimes detectives who told her in advance she may be a victim of police abuse and only after her mother searched the internet for news and a photo of Holtzclaw.
The only DNA found on Holtzclaw's pants was the last accuser but the sample was miniscule and despite prosecutor's claims there was no testing of the clothing for vaginal fluid. Malkin's DNA expert claims that indirect transfer could have come from indirect contact or from searching the woman's purse which had been done by Holtzclaw. There was also an unidentified man's DNA found along with two other sources of DNA.
The story airs tomorrow, "Daniel in the Den: The Truth About the Holtzclaw Case," a two-part series, airs exclusively on CRTV.com's new program, "Michelle Malkin Investigates," beginning Dec. 5.
Were it any other prosecutor I wouldn't think twice. Were it any other journalist I wouldn't think twice. But David Prater is known for his political grandstanding and filing charges to further his political career. We are going to be watching this appeal as it unfolds and for now this might well be a case of another railroaded Oklahoma County citizen.
