EP 4: Wrapping Up the Jannie Ligons Traffic Stop
Below is the OSBI enhanced surveillance footage from camera #21 at the Surety Life Insurance Bldg. at NE 50th and N. Lincoln Blvd.
Subscribe and give a five-Star rating today!
Join in on the conversation, debate and insights to Oklahoma vs. Daniel Holtzclaw on the official subreddit r/DanielHoltzclaw.
HAVE A COMMENT, QUESTION, CONCERN OR JUST A SHOUTOUT? CALL AND LEAVE A MESSAGE ON OUR PODCAST HOTLINE. YOU MAY HAVE YOUR MESSAGE INCLUDED IN AN UPCOMING EPISODE OR SHARED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA….. (405) 466-5622
Below are the Oklahoma City police investigative reports specific to this episode…
Bates Investigates
Episode 4 ׀Daniel Holtzclaw: Wrapping Up the Jannie Ligons Traffic Stop
[OPENING MUSIC]
Disclaimer: This podcast deals with adult subject matter, including depictions of drug addiction, prostitution, sexual assault, and rape. Parental guidance is suggested.
00:37[OPENING AUDIO COLLAGE]
Newscaster: Officer Daniel Holtzclaw, with the Police Department for three years, is accused of raping and sexually assaulting women he pulled over while on the job.
Jannie Ligons: He said, ‘Come on, come on, just a minute, just a minute’. I say, ‘Sir, I can’t do this’. I say, ‘you gonna shoot...’
Det. Kim Davis: Tell me your description of him.
Sherri Ellis: He’s black.
Det. Kim Davis: He’s b—okay, he’s a black male.
Det. Kim Davis: What did your daughter tell you?
Amanda Gates: She said, ‘I met this really hot cop’.
Shardayreon Hill: So, this is good evidence?
Det. Rocky Gregory: Well, you tell me.
[OPENING AUDIO COLLAGE ENDS]
Timestamp: The following episode contains investigative events which occurred between June 18thand June 23, 2014.
01:23
Host:Welcome back to season one of Bates Investigates where we are taking an in-depth, serialized look into the case of Oklahoma v. Daniel Holtzclaw. In the last two episodes, we listened to and summarized the interrogation of Daniel Holtzclaw by OCPD Sex Crimes detectives Kim Davis and Rocky Gregory. You will recall that then Oklahoma City Patrol Officer Daniel Holtzclaw (who is half white and half Japanese) was accused of sexually assaulting Jannie Ligons, a fifty-seven year old black female he had admittedly pulled over while off the clock. We ended last time with Officer Holtzclaw being relieved of his police badge, gun, and even his uniform pants. Pants that would soon take center stage and be the catalyst to a very controversial rounding-up of Holtzclaw accusers. During Holtzclaw’s two hour interrogation, we heard him deny any criminal activity, express a desire to cooperate in any way, and repeatedly asked detectives to “get it done”. A reference to conducting DNA testing, analyzing the retrieved surveillance video, and even the use of a polygraph.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Daniel Holtzclaw:I’ve never been in trouble like this before. Never got accused of anything like this or nothing. I’ve heard of officers going through this and, and, what not, and that’s something I don’t want my rep to be, you know, about. You know, I’m, I’m a good officer, I, I don’t, that’s not me. That’s not me.
Det. Kim Davis: On the video, are we gonna see her boobies?
Daniel Holtzclaw:You shouldn’t see her boobs. I didn’t see her boobs.
Det. Kim Davis: Okay. Are we gonna see her pull her pants down?
Daniel Holtzclaw:I didn’t see her pull her pants down.
Det. Kim Davis: Okay. Are we gonna see your penis out?
Daniel Holtzclaw:Nope.
Det. Kim Davis: Are we gonna see your penis go in her mouth?
Daniel Holtzclaw:No.
Det. Kim Davis: Are we gonna get any DNA to that?
Daniel Holtzclaw:No.
Det. Kim Davis: You’d be willing to take a polygraph on it?
Daniel Holtzclaw:Yeah.
Det. Kim Davis: We’re gonna call tomorrow. We can’t get ahold of the polygrapher today.
Daniel Holtzclaw:Okay.
Det. Rocky Gregory: You got any questions involving this?
Daniel Holtzclaw:[laughing]
Det. Rocky Gregory: I mean, you—you’ve asked.
Daniel Holtzclaw:I’m getting attacked now. I’m just feeling like, I’m, like, God… bless. [sigh] I want DNA. I want everything. I want… get it done.
Det. Rocky Gregory: We—we—we’re gonna put it to the front of the line, okay?
Daniel Holtzclaw:Get it done.
[RECORDING ENDS]
3:43
Host: Admittedly, you could describe Holtzclaw’s demeanor during his interrogation many different ways. Subdued, patient, calm, cooperative… certainly professional. Far more professional than these quotes from the seasoned detectives conducting the interrogation.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Det. Rocky Gregory:I masturbate right and left.
Daniel Holtzclaw:Oh, [laughing].
Det. Rocky Gregory:Does that work?
Daniel Holtzclaw:[laughing]
Det. Kim Davis: Oh, I think I do that left handed.
Det. Rocky Gregory:Very good.
Det. Kim Davis: Well, I am dominant left.
Det. Rocky Gregory:You are?
Det. Kim Davis: Yes. Just a plain old penis, huh?
Daniel Holtzclaw:Just a plain old… penis. [laugh]
Det. Rocky Gregory:Plain old fourteen incher.
[RECORDING ENDS]
Host: With all that in mind, here is how Detective Davis described Holtzclaw to a reporter with The Oklahoman newspaper based on that same interrogation we all listened to.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Det. Kim Davis: We talked to him for over two hours.
Unnamed Reporter:Yeah.
Det. Kim Davis: He was the most [pause] stoic, non—he was like interviewing a robot. It—it was—it was very odd. I’ve never interviewed anybody like that. Usually [laugh] I mean, if I’m gonna look at you and say, ‘Um, you put your penis in somebody’s mouth,’ you’d be like, ‘WHAT?!’ Your voice would change, your—you know and be, nothing. His voice never sh—changed. No voice infliction. His, he never raised his eyebrows. He just, ‘No, I didn’t do it.’ He, he, he was like interviewing a robot. He’s a sociopath.
[RECORDING ENDS]
Host:I would argue that no rational person, who isn’t operating from the perspective of self-serving confirmation bias, would ever describe Holtzclaw’s attitude during his interrogation as robotic or as that of a sociopath. Regardless, as soon as Holtzclaw is driven home, he tries to explain the situation to this girlfriend, Kerri, and then also places a couple of telephone calls. First, to the Fraternal Order of Police, or FOP. They immediately assign an attorney to represent him. Holtzclaw next places a call to the one man he respects above all others, but also who he fears he may have let down the most, his father. As we mentioned in the last episode, Eric Holtzclaw is a career law enforcement officer and currently works as a Lieutenant with another police department in Oklahoma. Here are some brief comments from Eric Holtzclaw regarding that telephone call.
06:10[RECORDING BEGINS]
Eric Holtzclaw:I remember when this event first happened. When he first called me I was at work, and he called me and says, ‘Hey, they just called me in—in about a complaint, uh, that they’re taking.’ And I said, ‘Well, just tell em the truth.’ I mean, he had been, uh, questioned on, a—other complaints that, like I’ve said, the use of force ones before, and it’s just routine. He tells the truth and they go on and they investigate it, and it would be unfounded. So, I—that didn’t alarm me initially. Uh, what alarmed me later on was to find out that they were—they actually—they weren’t doing an administrative investigation. They read him his rights right away. They didn’t use the FOP or do any kind of administrative, uh, in—investigation, or offer him, uh, that I could see from the interview, offered him any kind of representation from the FOP or any of those things when I saw the video. But, uh, he, uh, he was up front and honest cause he just thought it was a routine interview. He, I think he was naïve in the fact that this was, they were looking into something much more serious than what he thought he was being called in for.
Host: Did, did he contact you the day that he was interviewed…
Eric Holtzclaw:Yep.
Host: …by detectives.
Eric Holtzclaw:Yeah, it was after, I think, he called me.
Host: Uh, at that time, were you a hundred percent convinced that Daniel, uh, was innocent?
Eric Holtzclaw:Well, I knew he hadn’t done anything, uh, and at the t—initial thing, I—we weren’t even sure what this was about. It was a, uh, I think he s—mentioned something, it was about a traffic stop, or what occurred at a traffic stop. And, and then later on he s—s—told me that they’re just accusing me of this, you know, some sort of sexual assault. And I, and I knew that wasn’t true. Especially when he said that it was done, you know, the way he started describing it. I’m thinking you gotta be kidding me. It’s, it’s the middle of a street on—in his uniform on a traffic stop and he’s gonna do this sexual assault and the guy’s gonna—lady’s just gonna go on her way. I said this is just another bogus k—type of, uh, uh, report. Uh, and he told me what little bit about what was going on in it and I asked him, I said, you know, what happened in this case, and he d—described and, uh, and, uh, he was telling me he was on his way home and it was not a big deal. Uh, he saw this and he said, ‘I better s—do something cause this person just swerved in my lane and, and, uh, uh, I’ma stop and make sure this person’s all right to go home. I didn’t’—you know, sh—he didn’t want a drunk driver to be out there and cau—kill somebody. So, he go—he told me about what was—went on with it and then uh, uh, so I wasn’t really a—alarmed about that until more of these things that they leaked to the media and they came out and told , uh, later on when they made the arrest.
[RECORDING ENDS]
09:18
Host: While Holtzclaw is now forced to simply sit back and wait, Detectives Davis and Gregory are on a mission. The next morning when the detectives arrive to work, they are greeted by a small mountain of documents sitting on their desk that has already been collected on Holtzclaw. These documents cover every moment of Holtzclaw’s last three years as an Oklahoma City Police Officer. Detectives Davis and Gregory, while sifting through all of these documents, begin to take note. Holtzclaw was hired by the department in September of 2011 and completed the OCPD Field Training Officer program in August of 2012. That same month he was assigned to the second shift within Springlake Patrol Division. In April of 2013, Holtzclaw successfully completed his probationary period. Barely a month later, Holtzclaw made the news when he, along with some other officers, were involved in an on-duty Use of Force incident resulting in the death of a thirty-eight year old male. The Medical Examiner ruled the death an accident attributed to excited syndrome due to methamphetamine toxicity. Holtzclaw was placed on administrative leave for one day. Holtzclaw's file also shows he has self-reported at least nineteen Use of Force incidents. His personnel file also reflects one incident that he neglected to report that resulted in a letter being placed in his personnel file. That letter reads in part: "Officer Holtzclaw is an enthusiastic police officer. He was very receptive to the verbal counseling." Signed Lieutenant Bennett, Springlake Division, Second Shift. In May of 2013, he received a coveted temporary gang unit assignment. In September, he made the news again, after a suspect at the Liberty Station Apartment complex in Northeast Oklahoma City resisted arrested, wrestled with him, and allegedly tried to take his service revolver. Remember that name, Liberty Station Apartments. A few days before Christmas 2013, Holtzclaw was one of just a handful of officers to be issued one of the few brand new all black Ford Police Interceptor take-home patrol cars. Yet another sign Holtzclaw was seen as a standout police officer.
11:42
He was involved in two incidents which caused damage to his patrol car. The first was in March of 2013 and was a result of debris in the roadway. The second was in October and involved Holtzclaw's patrol vehicle striking a bicyclist that pulled out in front of him. Both incidents were ruled non-preventable. According to Holtzclaw's police department application, his nickname growing up was the Claw. An abbreviated version of his last name. Holtzclaw's identifying marks are listed as two tattoos: the first on his upper left shoulder. It's a bible verse. Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." The other tattoo, located on his upper right shoulder is the Japanese symbol for “work hard." Also in Holtzclaw's personnel file is a copy of his birth certificate. The youngest of three and the only son, was born at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam on December 10, 1986. Holtzclaw lists his immediate family members as his father, Eric; his mother, Kumiko; and his sisters, Julie and Jenny. Daniel has always been close to his parents and siblings, but he has no idea how much he will have to rely on them and to the extent they will show their love for him in the coming years. Holtzclaw's criminal history is listed as two self-disclosed incidents when he was only seven years old. The first, when he stole a wallet from the BX (or Base Exchange) store, and another incident when he stole candy from a convenience store. Holtzclaw graduated from high school in Enid, Oklahoma. He was the captain of his football team. Holtzclaw next attended college at Eastern Michigan University on a Division 1A football scholarship. While there he played as starting middle linebacker in every game of his four years at college. Holtzclaw was a freshman all-American and top five in the nation in interceptions and held the NCAA record for tackles per season. Hotlzclaw excelled at leadership and once again was captain of his football team.
13:51
He graduated in 2010 with a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice. After graduation, Holtzclaw tried out for the NFL. That dream was not to be. Holtzclaw next pursued his second passion, to become a police officer and follow in both his father's and mother's footsteps. Holtzclaw wrote in his application to the Oklahoma City Police Department: "I think being an Oklahoma City Police Officer would be a challenge with numerous opportunities to specialize as it is a very large department. I have always thought public service was very important to giving back to the community and protecting it. I have always lived ethically and tried to be a positive role model to others. I have the highest regard and respect for police officers and aspire to fill that role and make a career in this field." Signed, Daniel Holtzclaw. Detective Davis directs a colleague to telephone Eastern Michigan University and find out if they have ever had any complaints against Holtzclaw for inappropriate behavior. They have not. Detectives Davis and Gregory are not the only one's still actively following up on Ligons' complaint from the day before. Lieutenant Muzny places a telephone call to Alan Salmon with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations. Muzny briefs Salmon on the complaint and tells him there is only one witness, security camera number twenty-one from the Surety Insurance at Northeast Fiftieth and Lincoln Boulevard. Muzny asks him to place a priority on trying to analyze the footage and clean it up. Detective Davis is also on the phone. She has been making arrangements with a member of the Secret Service to administer a polygraph test to Holtzclaw for 1:00 p.m. that very afternoon. Detective Davis next contacts Holtzclaw to let him know about the polygraph test she has just secured. Holtzclaw says he's now represented by FOP attorney, Susan Knight, and that Davis will have to have any further communications through her. Detective Davis knows that's going to be a problem. She knows that most criminal defense attorneys will not cooperate with the use of a polygraph test against their client. And she's right. When she gets Susan Knight on the phone, she tells Detective Davis that she will not allow Holtzclaw to be tested. Here’s an interesting side note, Susan Knight, is married to Oklahoma City Police Master Sergeant, Gary Knight. Gary Knight served as the police department's public information officer during this time.
16:23
Across town, OCPD crime scene technicians have returned to Holtzclaw's patrol car, now secured in the police department's evidence barn. They have been instructed to fluoresce the patrol car with an alternate light source to search for stains to be tested for evidence of sexual assault. Late that same afternoon, Lieutenant Muzny returns to the OSBI office to retrieve the enhanced surveillance footage he provided them. OSBI hasn't been much help in that regard. Their enhancement appears to be limited to simply enlarging the area of the footage where Holtzclaw and Ligons vehicles are stopped. The timestamp on the grainy black and white video starts at 2:02 a.m. Because the security camera had to be manually rebooted at 2:00 a.m. we don't know exactly what time Holtzclaw initiated the traffic stop. While the video at first glance appears to be useless, there are clues within the washed out and blackened images on the screen. At 2:02:08 there appears to be two figures standing between Holtzclaw's patrol car and Ligons' vehicle. Within seconds the two figures walk eastbound. We can assume that is Officer Holtzclaw directing Ligons to the rear passenger side of his patrol car. At 2:04:20, it appears Holtzclaw walks from his patrol car to Ligons' car and searches it for approximately one and a half minutes. During this time, a small vehicle, possibly a motorcycle is seen driving southbound on Beverly and then turning eastbound on Northeast Fiftieth. At 2:05:51 seconds, Holtzclaw returns to Ligons after presumably searching her vehicle. At 2:08 a.m. you see a vehicle drive on Northeast Fiftieth east to west. At 2:08:39, if you look closely, it appears you can see Holtzclaw using his flashlight. At 2:10:48, another vehicle passes by. This vehicle is traveling from the west, eastbound on Northeast Fiftieth and then turns and takes Beverly northbound. This appears to be the gold SUV Ligons would later recall seeing driving by. At 2:13:43, a fourth and final vehicle is seen traveling past the traffic stop from east to west. At 2:15 a.m. Ligons appears to walk back to her vehicle. Twenty-six seconds later Holtzclaw is seen backing up his patrol car and Ligons pulls her car forward slowly. Forty seconds after Ligons was seen walking towards her car, Holtzclaw has made a u-turn and is driving eastbound on Northeast Fiftieth towards Lincoln Boulevard, with Ligons almost directly behind him. Taking out the time for searching Ligons vehicle, Holtzclaw has spent approximately eleven minutes with Ligons.
19:26
According to the prosecution, in that eleven minutes, Holtzclaw had time ask Ligons if she had been drinking or doing drugs. Inquire as to what was in her cup in her console. Ask for her license and insurance. Inquire as to why she had no license. Ask her what she was doing out that late at night. Ask permission to search her vehicle. Tell her he had just gotten off work and was tired. Comfort her and reassure her she didn't need to be upset and he wasn't going to shoot her. And tell her he was going to follow her to make sure she was really headed home and driving safely. All of which Ligons had to reply to in return. And, somewhere in there he managed to fit in pulling out his erect penis (over his compression shorts with no fly, under his t-shirt and bullet proof vest and around his uniform shirt that was held in place by shirt stays) and get oral sex while coaxing her to just hurry up. All of that, folks, within eleven minutes or less. Like all of the other discovery evidence, I have posted a copy of the OSBI enhanced surveillance video on this episode’s home page at holtzclawtrial.com. Lieutenant Muzny next requests copies of the names of everyone Holtzclaw ran on his Mobile Data Computer (MDC for short) for the past three months. Muzny also requests any reports written, any Varuna activity, and all citation information for the past six months. Varuna is the name given to the database officers can access that contains crime reports. This information is the beginning of a controversial "list" and potential victim profile. The following day, Friday, June 20, 2014, crime scene technicians return to Holtzclaw's patrol vehicle for a third time. They are met by Detective Gregory. Gregory is specifically looking for FI cards that may be in Holtzclaw's vehicle. FI or Field Interview cards are handwritten cards created by officers during informal citizen contacts during patrol. This information is turned in and utilized by other officers as intelligence on things like gang activity, suspect information, etcetera.
21:46
On Monday, June 23rd, Lieutenant Muzny receives a huge stack of paperwork - it's the reports he had requested regarding Holtzclaw's encounters late last week. After briefly reviewing the documents, he makes an additional request, he now wants to see any activity where Holtzclaw called in to Unit Eight Hundred for the past three months. Unit Eight Hundred is the Crime Information Unit, also referred to as CIU. That is the database officer's access to do warrant checks, driver's license checks, stolen property inquiries, vehicle checks, missing persons, etcetera. Also on this day, a police report is written and received by detectives from another Springlake Officer - Anthony Carter. You will recall in episode one that there is a brief mention by Detective Davis in her report that Ligons mentioned that after they arrived at the Springlake Station and couldn't find anyone that their intention was to drive home and call a cousin of theirs who also worked as a police officer - Anthony Carter. However, while in route, they apparently flagged down patrol officers on North Lincoln Boulevard. It should be noted, at trial Marisha Ligons actually claimed that they were headed to the Hefner police station when they left Springlake and not headed home, as Jannie Ligons indicated. The report by Anthony Carter reads a little differently than Detective Davis' report. According to his report, he received a telephone call from his mother, Frances Carter. She told Anthony that their cousin Jannie had been sexually assaulted by a Springlake officer and that Jannie and her daughter were at the Springlake Police Department, but the doors were locked and they couldn’t find anyone. Anthony Carter says in his report that he instructed his mother to tell Ligons to simply call 911 and a supervisor would be dispatched to them to take a report. Carter says he then went back to bed but did check at lineup the next day to ensure that a report had been made. Another interesting notation in Officer Carter's report, is the fact he mentions that Ligons was told by investigators that she would be shown a photo lineup. However, as I've already pointed out, Detective Davis obstructs the use of a photo line-up and Ligons is never given that opportunity. You can see a copy of Officer Carter’s report on this episode’s home page at holtzclawtrial.com. Additionally, reports from the officers whom Ligons contacted on North Lincoln Boulevard all indicate that Ligons flagged them down while enroute to the Springlake Station and not while returning from it. Lastly, Detective Davis' report also details that Marisha Ligons (Jannie's adult daughter) repeatedly called the Springlake Station as they were driving towards it and got no answer. Marisha also claimed that she called the Hefner station but they told her they couldn't help. At trial no evidence could be provided to show that those calls were ever actually made.
24:55
Detectives Davis, Gregory, and everyone working overtime to investigate Ligons' claims of sexual assault are caught a bit off guard when the following exclusive interview leads the nightly news on KWTV in Oklahoma City.
[NEWSTORY BEGINS]
Female News Anchor:We begin tonight with some shocking allegations against an Oklahoma City Police Officer.
Male News Anchor:A woman says she was pulled over, frisked, and forced to perform oral sex during a traffic stop. She talked exclusively with News Nine Crime Tracker, Adriana Iwasinski, who joins us with the story now live.
Adriana Iwasinski: Kelly, Oklahoma City Police confirm they are investigating this claim and that an officer has been placed on Administrative Leave, but they are not releasing his name at this time. But this woman tells me she’s just glad he’s off the streets.
Jannie Ligons:He just need to be stopped. I don’t want him doing this to nobody else. That—that’s torture, pure torture.
Adriana Iwasinski: This woman agreed to talk with me as long as we protected her identity. She says she was driving home from a friend’s house last Thursday around 2 a.m. when she was pulled over.
Jannie Ligons:And as I passed Fiftieth and Lincoln, the lights changed. That’s when he put his lights on. I say, ‘What did I do?’
Adriana Iwasinski: The fifty-seven year old grandmother of twelve says she pulled over to the nearest side street, right by these buildings. She says that officer told her to get out of her car and then frisked her. And there were security cameras all around.
Jannie Ligons:So, he patted me down. He didn’t find anything.
Adriana Iwasinski: She tells me the officer then told her to undress.
Jannie Ligons:So, I raised up my blouse, he wanna raise up my bra. I did all that. He took his flashlight and shined it on my chest.
Adriana Iwasinski: She says he then forced her to perform oral sex while she was sitting in his squad car.
Jannie Ligons:I said, ‘Oh no, sir.’ I said, ‘You ain’t supposed to do this.’ I said, ‘You ain’t supposed to do this to me, sir.’
Adriana Iwasinski: This grandmother says a car even passed them during the incident.
Jannie Ligons:He say, ‘Hurry up cause I just got off a duty.’ He say, ‘I don’t—I don’t have all night.’
Adriana Iwasinski: She says the entire time she feared for her life.
Jannie Ligons:I say, ‘Sir, no, I can’t do this.’ He said, ‘Come on, come on, just a minute, just a minute.’ I say, ‘Sir, I can’t do this.’ I say, ‘you gonna shoot me, you gonna shoot me...’
Adriana Iwasinski: She says the officer finally let her go, but says he followed her to her daughter’s house and then took off. That’s when she called police.
Jannie Ligons:I thought he was gonna shoot me when I held my head down. That’s—that’s what was going through my mind. I say, ‘He’s not gonna do this to me and let me go and let me live and tell that.’ I said, ‘He’s not.’ In my mind he was gonna kill me.
Adriana Iwasinski: Now, Oklahoma City Police say they are taking this allegation very seriously and a criminal investigation is under way. Reporting live from police headquarters, Adriana Iwasinski, News Nine.
Male News Anchor:All right, Adriana. The woman says she came forward because she fears the officer may have done this to other women before, and she’s encouraging them to come forward and file a report as well.
[NEWSTORY ENDS]
27:33
Host:Now, you obviously cannot see the television news story I just played. You're only getting the audio, naturally. But I think it's important to point out that at this point, Jannie Ligons is silhouetted in that news story, so you cannot see her and her name was not said or displayed. Additionally, Holtzclaw was not identified in the story, either by name, photo or description. The investigative reporter in that story, Adriana Iwasinski, is someone I've worked with several times during her career as an Oklahoma City journalist. While she no longer works in Oklahoma, I gave her a phone call because I wanted to know the origin of the Ligons’ interview. Did Ligons shop the story around herself? Did Adriana get a tip? How exactly did this story come about?
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Adriana Iwasinski: Well, it all came to us with a phone call to our newsroom. We got a call from a family member of Jannie Ligons who said we needed to look into, uh, the situation. But, uh, I got the call from my news station, ‘Hey, this person wants talk with you about this situation. Why don’t you give em a call back?’ So, I at least did my due diligence. I said, ‘Well, I’ll—I’ll at least call them and see what they have to say about this situation.’ And when I did call, uh, the caller was credible. Uh, the caller comes from, uh, a law enforcement background and I, I vetted the caller and he was like, ‘Look, this happened to my family member.’ And I point blank asked him, ‘Do you believe her?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I do.’ And I go, ‘Was there a police report made?’ He goes, ‘From what I understand, yes, there was.’ And I’m, like, okay, that’s something to work with. And then I was at the police station when I received this call and started making these calls and I went straight to our police contact and said, ‘I’m getting information that you may be investigating one of your own for possible, uh, you know, sexual misconduct during a traffic stop, can you at least verify this is true?’ So, while they are checking up on my question, I follow up with a call to who turns out to be Jannie Ligons and talk with her and then from there, once I got off the phone and confirmed that I was going to talk to her that afternoon, I went back to police and said, ‘Can you, can you confirm you guys are investigating?’ And they said, ‘Yes, there is an investigation taking place.’ And that’s all I knew. And from there, the story blew up.
[RECORDING ENDS]
30:02
Host:I have two concerns regarding this news story. One, what was Ligons’ true motivation in coming forward without first checking with detectives to make certain she wasn't jeopardizing their case? She had to have known the detectives were taking her allegations extremely seriously. This brings up my second concern. Detectives have not yet begun to contact individuals they feel may have been assaulted by Officer Holtzclaw. Yet, the public has now been put on notice that there is indeed an officer under investigation. They also now have a basic idea of the specific allegations against him. Over the next few days the evidence from Holtzclaw's patrol car is analyzed. Despite extensive searching by CSI technicians for the presence of fingerprints or DNA, they could find no evidence to support Ligons’ claims. In addition, the results of Ligons’ SANE test or rape kit have returned. Despite being tested only a couple of hours after she alleges she was forced to perform oral sex upon Holtzclaw, the test reveals no DNA from Holtzclaw, no pre-ejaculate, and no signs of sexual contact. Detective Kim Davis, however, is not thwarted. In fact, confirmation basis has taken such a hold on her that I am reminded of this quote she gave The Oklahoman newspaper.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Det. Kim Davis:We’ll take our time and we’ll verify everything the girls say, or we’ll verify everything he said. And the—and, and that’s the way the chips are gonna fall. And everything the girls said verified, and nothing he said did. [laugh]
[RECORDING ENDS]
Host:Everything the women said verified and nothing he said did. Let's review that. Jannie Ligons claims that when she was stopped, Holtzclaw forced her to place the palms of her hands onto his patrol car as he patted her down. Holtzclaw said that didn't happen. An extensive forensic examination turned up no fingerprints nor DNA to back up Ligons' claim.
32:09
Jannie Ligons claimed Holtzclaw placed his hands on the roof of his patrol car to block the view of passing motorists. Again, Holtzclaw denies that ever happened. And, once again, the forensic examination turns up nothing to support Ligons' assertions. Ligons claims she was forced to perform oral sex upon Officer Holtzclaw. A claim Holtzclaw adamantly denies. A SANE test, or rape kit, is performed on Ligons. No DNA, no pre-ejaculate, and no other evidence of sexual contact is found. Ligons claims they repeatedly called the Springlake and Hefner briefing stations and even spoke with someone at the Hefner station. No evidence supporting those phone calls was ever provided to the defense, nor shown at trial. Ligons claims Holtzclaw just casually and quickly unzipped his pants and exposed his erect penis. Yet, the video evidence showing what all Holtzclaw is wearing makes that scenario highly unlikely. And lastly, the surveillance video clearly leaves no more than an eleven minute window in which Holtzclaw could have all the conversations both parties agree took place AND allow him to commit a sexual assault. Again, a series of events that is not backed up with a single thread of evidence and appears to defy the reality of the constraints of time.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Det. Kim Davis:And everything the girls said verified, and nothing he said did. [laugh]
[RECORDING ENDS]
Host:I will continue to play this clip throughout this podcast and its departure from reality will only continue to be more apparent. That being said, Detective Davis does get an update from the police department's crime lab. Lab analyst, Elaine Taylor, has tested Holtzclaw's uniform pants and there's female DNA. It's on the inside of the fly and it doesn't match Ligons. With that news, Detectives Davis and Gregory become singularly focused on matching that female DNA profile to an individual. And they think to themselves, ‘Do we have a serial sexual predator within our ranks, and are there more victims out there?’
34:25
This is where I'm going to conclude this week's episode. I also have a programming note. This serialized podcast is not prerecorded weeks or even months in advance. I'm a one man show with a private investigative agency to run and these episodes are literally recorded week to week. Next week my wife and I are celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary, so I will be focusing all of my attention on her. But, I will return with a new episode on July 31st. In that episode we will discuss the newly discovered DNA on Holtzclaw's uniform pants and begin to investigate the Terri Morris sexual sassily allegations. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to subscribe and give us a five star review. If you would like to know more and see many of the files used to compile this episode, please visit this season’s homepage at holtzclawtrial.com. You can also follow updates on our Facebook page at In Defense of Daniel Holtzclaw, or on Twitter @HoltzclawTrial. Bates Investigates - Season One: the Daniel Holtzclaw case is researched, produced, and edited by me, Brian Bates. This has been a bug stomper production.
[child singing] Huh? [squishing sound] [laughing] Bugs!
- END -