Documents Unsealed In Daniel Holtzclaw’s Appeal

There are new developments in the appeal by former Oklahoma City Police officer Daniel Holtzclaw, who was convicted of sexually assaulting women while on duty. A judge has just ordered some documents related to the appeal be unsealed.

In June 2017, surveillance cameras inside the Oklahoma County Courthouse captured those coming and going from a closed two-day hearing related to Daniel Holtzclaw's appeal -- a team of prosecutors, a civil attorney for the City, and key members of OCPD's forensics team.

But Holtzclaw's defense was denied access--a decision that shocked legal analyst Irven Box.

“Unbelievable,” he told News 9. “In my almost fifty years of practice, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

In the order filed Friday in the Court of Criminal Appeals, a judge said, "Defense counsel should have had the opportunity to participate fully in that in camera hearing, but counsels' absence was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."

The order said Holtzclaw's defense has since received transcripts from that hearing. It also said certain documents related to Holtzclaw's appeal are to be unsealed with some sensitive information still redacted.

The Holtzclaw family released the following statement:

“Daniel is an innocent man who was wrongly convicted based on fatally flawed forensic evidence, a biased and incompetent police investigation, and prosecutorial misconduct. He did not receive a fair trial. The bottom line on the new ruling from the Court of Criminal Appeals is that it affirms Daniel's and our belief--as well as the opinion of legal observers nationwide -- that the secret hearings were also flawed and wrongly denied his lawyers access to the process.

We look forward to the timely adjudication of Daniel's appeal. We are glad Daniel's lawyer will be allowed to amend Daniel's motion for an evidentiary hearing and that the briefing schedule has been set.

We hope and pray the court comes to the same conclusion that six internationally-renowned scientists did when they reviewed forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's work:

Daniel deserves a new trial.

The Holtzclaw Family”

Holtzclaw's attorney will have 30 days to revise his request for an evidentiary hearing based on this new information.

News 9 reached to District Attorney David Prater, who said he is not able to comment at this time.

Read Related: Criminal Appeals Court Grants Motion To Unseal Documents In Holtzclaw Case