White cop accused of raping 12 black women gets all white jury
Oklahoma City Officer Daniel Holtzclaw has been arrested after twelve different women and one teenager came forward to accuse him of rape and sexual assault. But for the victims, the trial may be difficult, because the jury is composed entirely of white people.
Oklahoma City Officer Daniel Holtzclaw has been arrested after twelve different women and one teenager came forward to accuse him of rape and sexual assault. But for the victims, the trial may be difficult, because the jury is composed entirely of white people.
What’s worse, most of Holtzclaw’s accusers are African-American.
The case began when a woman came forward in June of last year to say that she had been assaulted during a traffic stop earlier that evening, which took place in the area in which Holtzclaw normally patrolled. The woman had no idea that another woman in the same neighborhood has also accused Holtzclaw earlier that year, and the Sex Crimes Unit of the Oklahoma City Police Department felt that this could be a break in the case.
Many of the women said that Holtzclaw would force them into a squad car and drive them to different places such as fields or driveways, before assaulting them. Others said that he drove them to their homes and assaulted them in their own houses. All of these claims were backed up by the GPS data of Holtzclaw’s car.
Unfortunately, as the case goes to trial, Holtzclaw is facing a jury of eight white men and four white women. The final jury was selected on Tuesday, and not a single black woman was even in the larger pool of jurors to select from, while the few black men who made it into the pool were not selected and are not even alternate jurors.
