For @ttac*king at least 13 black women including teenagers and a grandmother a former Oklahoma City police officer has been found guilty in the neighbourhood he patrolled. After four days of deliberations, on Thursday Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted by the all-white jury of eight men and four women. As he was found guilty on 18 counts, the 29-year-old ex-officer broke down in tears. The 18 counts included r@*pe, s*exu@l battery and forcible oral sodomy against eight of the women who testified against him. As the judge went through the verdicts on what happened to be his 29th birthday, his supporters also sobbed.
As they gathered outside the courthouse, some of the victims’ supporters reportedly sang Happy Birthday to him. Holtzclaw’s defense attorneys tried to comfort him too. As he stood up to be handcuffed by court officers, he shouted, ‘I didn’t do it.’ He still faces a recommended 263 years in prison despite being found not guilty on 18 of the charges. Holtzclaw has just turned 29 on Thursday and now has to spend the rest of his life in prison. He is set to be sentenced in January as he was remanded in custody. The Oklahoma City Police Department welcomed the verdict.
As the verdict were read out, the mother of the youngest accuser clapped. She said that she found the doors locked when she went to the courthouse to hear the verdict. But she was able to race home in time to see it on TV.