Imprisoned former OKC police officer Daniel Holtzclaw plans to challenge convictions again
With all the civil cases against him dismissed, former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw is vowing from prison to resume his fight against his criminal convictions.
"I still hope and believe that justice will prevail," he said for a news release emailed to the media by his sister.
Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting 12 Black women and a then-17-year-old Black girl between December 2013 and June 2014 while a police officer ā on duty and off. Jurors in December 2015 convicted him of sexual offenses involving eight victims.
He was sentenced to 263 years in prison.
A dozen accusers sued him, and the city, in 2016 in Oklahoma City federal court. One dropped out in 2017. The other 11 plaintiffs dropped their efforts against him after U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton threw the city out of the case.
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"Now we can take all the good evidence we gained in the civil case and get busy with post-conviction efforts," Holtzclaw said after the last seven plaintiffs dismissed all claims against him Wednesday.
"Fighting wrongful convictions is brutal. I hear about new supporters every week and am grateful for people with open minds who are willing to look at the facts of my case and the flawed investigation that stripped my freedom and put my family in a prison of their own."
The civil trial had been set to begin in October. Two of the plaintiffs have appealed the ruling in favor of the city.
The judge in December ruled the plaintiffs had insufficient evidence that the city was to blame for Holtzclaw's actions.
"Plaintiffsā evidence does not support an inference that there was a practice of the OCPD responding inappropriately to allegations of sexual misconduct by its officers or that there was some deficient practice as to their supervision such as would support a conclusion of deliberate indifference. At most, they suggest instances where, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the OCPD might have done something better or quicker, but that is not the standard," the judge wrote.
An attorney for two of the plaintiffs said they did not go to trial because they would never have collected any judgment against Holtzclaw.
"It's not a matter of there not being good evidence that Holtzclaw engaged in the wrongful act," attorney Mark Hammons said. "It's just, we get a judgment against him, he's in jail and going to be in jail for a long time."
Judge suggests former officer's accuser seek settlement in civil case
Even though he ruled in favor of the city, the judge in January told the plaintiffs and the city's attorneys to try to reach a settlement.
"You would think that the city might in this circumstance say, 'Hey, that's our employee who did the wrongful actions and, therefore, we're going to do something to help compensate for that wrong.' But the city said, 'No. We don't care,'" Hammons said.
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"They didn't offer anything at the settlement conference. They didn't offer a dime."
Holtzclaw, now 35, has found support for his innocence claim. He lost at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 when justices refused to consider his complaints about his trial.
The refusal meant his 18 convictions for rape and other sex crimes stand.
Among the evidence Holtzclaw may raise in a new appeal is testimony in 2018 in one of the civil cases. In a deposition, one plaintiff said repeatedly "he didn't touch me."
The statement contradicted the woman's testimony at the criminal trial that he touched her breasts with both hands skin to skin for a few seconds. He was convicted of one count, sexual battery, based on that testimony.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Former OKC police officer Daniel Holtzclaw to fight convictions again
