Oklahoma City Police Officer Convicted Of Raping 8 Women Asks For New Trial

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Back in December of last year, former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted on 18 counts of rape and sexual assault. He had been found guilty of sexually assaulting eight women while on duty. Now, he’s asking for a new trial.

The AP reports that Holtzclaw’s attorney filed a request on Wednesday asking for a new trial or evidentiary hearing on the grounds that prosecutors may have withheld evidence from the defense.

Here’s a key part of the filing: “If there is additional DNA evidence despite the government’s representations to the contrary, and if there are additional people who came forward and falsely claimed that they were victims… then deliberate misrepresentations were made not only to the defense counsel but to the Court, calling into question the credibility of the government’s entire case.”

Jannie Ligons said that Holtzclaw pulled her over in June 2014 and then forced her to perform “oral sodomy” on him. She was the first victim to report him to the police. Investigators later found 13 victims with similar stories. Holtzclaw apparently targeted women in one of Oklahoma’s poorest neighborhoods who had a history of prostitution or drug use.

Holtzclaw’s sentencing is on Thursday. He faces up to 263 years consecutively in prison.

(Via AP and CNN)

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