Thursday, September 14, 2017

Daniel Holtzclaw: Oklahoma; Seeking exoneration: Journalist Michelle Malkin continues her crusade to free him with a rally, screening of a new episode, and panel featuring former law enforcement and exonerees, The Enid News and Eagle reports....“It takes a corrupted village to secure wrongful convictions, and it takes a village of good and brave people to reverse those convictions and free the actually innocent,” Malkin said. “That’s why we came to Enid. And the message I want to send to Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Police Department officers, rank and file police officers who knew what a fine police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was, is it is never too late to tell the truth.”..."Malkin, who is a conservative commentator, said people don’t have to agree with her politics to come together in support of Holtzclaw. “Whether you’re left, right or center, people don’t have to agree with me ideologically to believe that Daniel was wronged in very grievous ways, and at the very least deserves a retrial,” Malkin said. “I’ve talked to many legal experts who think these convictions should be vacated altogether,” she said. “But what’s so sobering is the road from wrongful conviction to exoneration is a long and grueling one, and that’s the message we wanted to share with the show today.”



STORY: "Supporters of Daniel Holtzclaw attend Malkin screening, by reporter James Neal,  published by  the Enid New and Eagle on September 10, 2017.

GIST: "Supporters and family of Daniel Holtzclaw gathered Saturday at Central National Bank Center for a screening of an episode from season two of “Michelle Malkin Investigates.”
Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer and Enid resident, was convicted in December 2015 on 18 of 36 counts of sexual crimes, including four counts of first-degree rape, and sentenced to 263 years in prison. Holtzclaw maintains his innocence and is challenging the conviction and the DNA evidence used to convict him Mal­kin, a journalist, columnist and No. 1 New York Times best-selling author, hosted a screening last December of her two-part episode “Daniel in the Den: The Truth About the Holtzclaw Case” and returned to Enid Saturday to screen a new episode purported to expose the reality of wrongful convictions and report on new developments in Holtzclaw’s case. The show is being aired on CRTV, a subscription-based conservative media outlet. Malkin told the group of more than 100 supporters it would take their concerted efforts to win justice for Holtzclaw. “It takes a corrupted village to secure wrongful convictions, and it takes a village of good and brave people to reverse those convictions and free the actually innocent,” Malkin said. “That’s why we came to Enid. And the message I want to send to Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Police Department officers, rank and file police officers who knew what a fine police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was, is it is never too late to tell the truth.” Following the episode screening, a panel discussion took place, featuring former law enforcement officers and exonerees Brian Franklin and Ray Spencer, as well as the Holtzclaw family and other guests. Franklin, a former Fort Worth, Texas, police officer, was convicted in 1995 of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and was acquitted last December after serving 21 years in prison. He told the crowd they each “play a part in shining a light on the truth.” “What happened to me can happen to anybody,” Franklin said. “All it takes is a false accusation and a poor investigation. It can happen to anybody.” Franklin said he was acquitted in part due to the testimony of a witness who had kept quiet for more than 15 years before disclosing evidence that supported his innocence. He told the crowd to be open-minded to the fact that other wrongfully-convicted men and women still are imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.
“There’s more than just me, and Ray, and Daniel,” Franklin said. “There’s others out there who are still in prison, and each of us can do our part to shed light and tell the truth.”.........Spencer said the public should take an active interest in Holtzclaw’s case. “People have to step back and say, this can happen to me,” he said. ........Spencer said he’s hopeful recent developments in the case will lead to Holtzclaw’s release and exoneration. Last month, documents concerning secret hearings held involving the case were unsealed and showed a secret hearing was held to determine whether personnel records that could help Holtzclaw’s appeal should be released........Holtzclaw said (frome prison) he is “irate” and “enraged, to put it mildly,” over the closed hearings held earlier this year without him or his attorney being present. But, despite his continued imprisonment, he said he is keeping his spirits high, and he vowed to fight on for exoneration. “I’m not going to allow them to win this fight,” he said. “I’m a fighter, and I will always continue to fight.” He urged the public to continue supporting his family and fighting for his release.........Malkin, who is a conservative commentator, said people don’t have to agree with her politics to come together in support of Holtzclaw. “Whether you’re left, right or center, people don’t have to agree with me ideologically to believe that Daniel was wronged in very grievous ways, and at the very least deserves a retrial,” Malkin said. “I’ve talked to many legal experts who think these convictions should be vacated altogether,” she said. “But what’s so sobering is the road from wrongful conviction to exoneration is a long and grueling one, and that’s the message we wanted to share with the show today.”

The entire story can be found at the link below: "

 http://www.enidnews.com/news/local_news/seeking-exoneration-supporters-of-daniel-holtzclaw-attend-malkin-screening/article_c221b9e8-1a38-5517-a222-02eee7e117b9.html

See also: 'Holtzclaw case: DNA experts ask public to weigh in on DNA evidence,' by Senior Science writer Seth Augenstein of Forensic Magazine, at the link below: "A former Oklahoma City police officer who was convicted in 2015 of using his uniform to sexually abuse women he believed were vulnerable has continued to fight his 263-year sentence. Daniel Holtzclaw contends his defense attorney was ineffective in arguing against the DNA evidence testimony used in convincing a jury that the ex-cop forced as many as 13 women to perform oral sex on him over two years of separate incidents. A group of a half-dozen DNA experts now contend on his behalf that the evidence in one of the key samples is troubling—and may be grounds for overturning the verdict, they argue in a new public letter. “During Mr. Holtzclaw’s trial, the DNA analyst drew conclusions that were inconsistent with her reported results and which may have been outside the realm of her expertise,” the experts write. “In addition, important information regarding the DNA results from the fly area of Mr. Holtzclaw’s pants was not fully disclosed during the DNA analyst’s trial testimony.” The DNA experts are: Peter Gill, a British expert known for his analysis of the Amanda Knox case; Jane Goodman-Delahunty, an expert at Charles Sturt University in Australia; Suzanna Ryan, a California-based DNA scientist; Moses Schanfield, a former New York lab director now at George Washington University; George Schiro, a Mississippi-based lab director; and Brent Turvey, of the Alaska-based Forensic Criminology Institute..........“We appreciate the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for considering our motion for leave to file the amicus brief, and we respect the Court’s decision,” add the DNA experts, in their latest letter. “However, we also respect the public’s right to know about the substance of the amicus brief.” A local TV station, News 9, obtained some 15,000 internal emails from the Oklahoma City law enforcement community which were related to the former senior forensic scientists who testified on the case. Those emails mentioned “retesting” of the scientist’s cases, according to the report."
https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/08/holtzclaw-case-dna-experts-ask-public-weigh-dna-evidence

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.