12/18/2019 (by Brian Bates) - Yesterday, famed U.S. attorney Kathleen Zellner formally withdrew her representation of Daniel Holtzclaw, due to her firms “heavy caseload.” Zellner had been representing the former Oklahoma City police officer in four separate federal civil lawsuits since her initial appearances in Oct. of 2017, as noted below:
5:2016cv00019 - Filed 1/12/2016
Plaintiffs: Sherry Ellis, Regina Copeland & Carla Raines.
Defendants: Daniel Holtzclaw & the City of OKC.
5:2016cv00184 - Filed 2/25/2016
Plaintiffs: Tabatha Barnes, Terri Morris, Syrita Bowen [terminiated], Carla Johnson, Kala Lyles, Jannie Ligons & Shardayreon Hill.
Defendants: City of OKC, Daniel Holtzclaw, Bill Citty, Brian Bennett, Rocky Gregory, John/Jane Does.
5:2016cv00349 - Filed 4/12/2016
Plaintiff: Adaira Gardner
Defendants: Daniel Hotlzclaw, Bill Citty, Brian Bennet [terminated], Rocky Gregory & the City of OKC.
5:2016cv00412 - Filed 4/22/2016
Plaintiff: Rosetta Grate.
Defendants: City of OKC, Daniel Holtzclaw, Bill Citty, Brian Bennett, Rocky Gregory & John/Jane Does.
Holtzclaw was convicted in Dec. of 2015 of 18 of 36 criminal counts related to a string of alleged serial sexual assaults and rapes against 13 accusers while on-duty and patrolling the Springlake District of NE Oklahoma City. Holtzclaw is half white and half Japanese. All of his alleged victims where black females.
Holtzclaw was sentenced to 263 years in prison and is currently being confined by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in an out-of-state facility.
It is important to note that Zellner, best known for her impressive exoneration record, does not, and has never, represented Holtzclaw in his criminal appeal proceedings.
Zellner’s Dec. 17 withdraw was not unexpected. She has indicated, privately, for months that she would not be able to continue as Holtzclaw’s civil defense attorney - stating that her obligations to her other cases (in particular Steven Avery of Netflix’s Making a Murderer fame) required too much of her and her firm’s attention.
Late today, Zellner sent out the following Tweet regarding her decision to step back from her involvement in this case.
Zeller has actively Tweeted her support of Daniel Holtzclaw since she became aware of his case and eventually came on board officially as his legal counsel.
Below is a Tweet Zellner sent out in Jan. of 2019.
Another from Feb. of 2019.
Prior to today, the last time Zellner publicly mentioned Holtzclaw’s case was in Oct. of this year, after Holtzclaw appeared for a deposition in his federal civil cases.
According to court records, Holtzclaw is now being represented by criminal defense and appellate attorney James L. Hankins.
Hankins is originally from Enid, Oklahoma (Holtzclaw’s high school hometown) and currently practices out of Edmond, Oklahoma.
Below is a redacted version of the actual motion.
