Former OKC Police Officer Convicted Of Sex Crimes Requests New Trial

A defense attorney for a former Oklahoma City police officer has filed a motion for a new trial one day before the former officer is set to be sentenced, sources tell News 9.

Former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted of 18 felony charges including rape and sexual battery.

According to the court filing, Holtzclaw's attorney claims "Holtzclaw was denied a fair trial because the government made deliberate discovery violations and misrepresentations, undermining confidence in the verdict."

The court filing said the government may have failed to disclose material evidence.

According to the court filing, the defense claims the evidence of the disclosure failure stems from a Facebook post by an Oklahoma City police detective after the jury verdict in this case. The detective claimed to have assisted in parts of the investigation.

The defense claims the detective made statements in the post, revealing that there is evidence that was withheld from the defense by the government, specifically that "several [women] came forward were found to be liars who were looking for their piece of the pie" and "DNA evidence from several of the victims was found in his car AND HIS PANTS," according to the filing.

The defense said the prosecution did not disclose any other individuals who made allegations against Holtzclaw and only disclosed one individual's DNA was found anywhere during forensic examination of any material.

The defense also claimed that the detective's name was not mentioned on any of the discovery materials provided to the defense.

"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 -- yet for whatever reason their stories were withheld from the defense despite representations under oath that their stories did not exist -- then deliberate misrepresentations were made not only to defense counsel but to the Court, calling into question the credibility of the government's entire case," according to the court filing. "Such reckless discovery violations and misrepresentations to the court undermine confidence int he fairness of Mr. Holtzclaw's trial."

Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting at least 13 women in his patrol area. Holtzclaw was a police officer in the Springlake division.

He was found guilty after 45 hours of deliberations. The jury recommended up to 263 years in prison. 

Holtzclaw's attorney Scott Adams requested a new trial or at least a hearing to determine the truthfulness of the detective's statement and "what additional evidence exists that was not disclosed to the defense counsel, and whether any evidence withheld was material exculpatory or impeachment evidence." 

Oklahoma City police spokesman Capt. Paco Balderrama said the department is looking into the matter involving the detective and the Facebook post.

"At this time, the motion is baseless as (the detective) was never directly involved in the investigation," Balderrama said.

12/23/2015 Related Story: Judge Lifts Stay Against City, Extends Stay Against Holtzclaw In Civil Lawsuit

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