EP 18: LOTS OF LIARS
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Below are the official police reports and court documents pertinent to this episode. (Transcript of this episode coming soon)
False Accuser Shaneice Barksdale
False Accuser Shakara Walker.
False Accuser Terry Dunn Sr.
Bates Investigates
Episode 18 ׀ Daniel Holtzclaw: Lots of Liars
Disclaimer: This podcast deals with adult subject matter, including depictions of drug addiction, prostitution, sexual assault, and rape. Parental guidance is suggested.
00:10 [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, 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 on August 21, 2014.
00:58
Host: Welcome back to Bates Investigates, Season One, In Defense of Daniel Holtzclaw. This is episode eighteen. In the last episode, Oklahoma City Police Sex Crimes Detective Kim Davis submitted a Probable Cause Affidavit to Oklahoma County Judge Cindy Troung, seeking the arrest warrant of Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw. Less than an hour after the warrant was signed, Holtzclaw was lured into a public place, under the pretense of discussing something with his Major. Instead, he was met by Detective Rocky Gregory and a handful of police gang task force officers. Holtzclaw was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Oklahoma County Jail. His bond? It was set at an unprecedented five million dollars cash. Immediately upon his arrest, it was his own department that notified the media... and with that Holtzclaw's name, face and the allegations against him were made public and those details were broadcast around the globe.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Male 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.
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Male Newscaster: The Chief of the Oklahoma City Police echoing the thoughts of his department after serious accusations of one of his own.
Chief Bill Citty: I tell you, it’s, uh, i—i—it, you know, the officers, i—it taints all of us, and they, and the officers know that and they take it very personally, and it, it angers us. And, and, uh, that one of, one of our people, one of our officers that people trust and, you know, to keep them safe, is not, is doing just the opposite. And, uh, especially in this fashion, so and, it’s, uh, it’s very disturbing.
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Female Newscaster: Officer Daniel Holtzclaw is in custody tonight with several women coming forward claiming to be his victims.
Female Newscaster: Now Rape, Sodomy, and Sexual Battery are just a few of the complaints against him. The Sex Crimes Unit uncovered six other women who also claim to have been abused by Holtzclaw.
Chief Bill Citty: On traffic stops, some of the individuals were actually just walking, some walk through the neighborhood and they were stopped, uh, you know, searched, threatened in some way, uh, with, with arrest, or, or something to that extent and as a result of that coerced, actually coerced them into providing sexual favors to him.
Female Newscaster: The Chief of Police says they want to be open about this investigation, as the department works to rebuild trust.
Chief Bill Citty: I have to hope that most the community realizes that our officers, you know, ninety-nine point nine percent of ‘em are trustworthy. And, uh, a—and, you know, and when something like this happens the officers take it very, very personal.
Female Newscaster: Tonight he’s in jail on a five million dollar bond. He could be facing the rest of his life spent in prison.
[RECORDING ENDS]
03:52
Host: Police would later say that it was important to make the allegations and Holtzclaw's identity public in hopes other victims would come forward. Keep in mind, investigators still don’t know to whom the DNA on the fly of Holtzclaw's uniform pants belonged. And police were correct, publicizing Holtzclaw's arrest and allegations unleashed a flood of women coming forward claiming to be victims of sexual assault. And the first? A twenty-five year old resident of Northeast Oklahoma City. Her name, Shaneice Jana Barksdale. According to police, Barksdale, described as a black female who is five foot two and weighs a hundred and seventy-five pounds, contacted police on August 22nd of 2014, the day after Holtzclaw was arrested. Barksdale called the Oklahoma City Police Station first thing that morning at 9:00am. She was connected to Detective Gregory, who asked her to come in and meet with him at 1:30 that afternoon. When Barksdale arrived, she already had a handwritten statement with her. She gave it to Detective Gregory who looked it over. I've asked Tia, a professional voice actress, to read Barksdale's statement for us.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Tia reading for Shaniece Barker: Police Officer Daniel Ken Holtzclaw assaulted me back in March. He pulled me over for no reason. He said my left taillight was out and I didn't know how true that was because I had just changed it that Monday afternoon. I told Mr. Holtzclaw it couldn't be out that fast, I just changed it. He told me that he needed to check inside my car, so he told me to proceed down Lincoln and go into Woodland Park. I asked him, ‘Why do you need to check inside my car?’ He stated, ‘For safety reasons.’ So, he got into his car and stated on the loudspeaker, ‘I'm right behind you, so you can go.’ As I am driving, I pulled into the Woodland Park area, and I'm driving down the side street and he told me to stop. We were by a white picket fence. He stepped out the car, walked toward my car and said, ‘Can you please get out the car?’ I was shaking because this has never happened to me before. When I stepped out the car, Mr. Holtzclaw was talking to me about how pretty I was and said he needed to pat me down. I told him I thought a female police officer is supposed to check women. He said in the case, it's my responsibility. I was still shaking and started to cry and I asked him if I could just go. He told me to turn around and put my hands on my car. He started touching me on my breast, my stomach, my thighs, and he stuck his hands in my pants. He put his gun on my car and told me, ‘Don't be afraid.’ I started to run, but I was too scared something else might happen. I was pushing his hand away from me. I didn't feel comfortable at all. I started yelling really loud for help, because he was getting too out of control with his hands and mouth. He asked for my ID and told me, ‘If you say anything to anyone I know where you live.’ He got back in his car and drove off. I was so disgusted I got back in my car and just broke down, and all I can do is cry, cry, and cry. I also started praying to God for watching over me because it could have been worst then it really was. Signed, Shaniece Barksdale
[RECORDING ENDS]
07:39
Host: You can see and read the actual handwritten statement by Barksdale at this episode’s homepage at holtzclawtrial.com, or on this season’s Instagram by going to @holtzclawtrial and tapping on episode eighteen highlight near the top of the profile. Detective Gregory then began asking Barksdale questions regarding her alleged sexual assault. Barksdale said the date was March 12, 2014. She was certain of the day and date because it was a Wednesday and that's when she goes out to a club called Cowboy's. She said that she was headed to the club when she received a phone call from her boyfriend, and that he asked her to come and meet him at their house in the two thousand block of Northeast Eighteenth Street. Barksdale says she turned around and was heading southbound on North Lincoln Boulevard when she approached Northeast Fiftieth. That's the same intersection where accuser Jannie Ligons was stopped. Barksdale stated that as she turned left, or eastbound, onto Northeast Fiftieth, she all of a sudden saw a patrol car come up behind her and turn on his overhead strobe lights, indicating she needed to pull over. As she stated in her written account, Holtzclaw pulled her over and falsely claimed she had a burnt out taillight. Then, he told her he needed her to drive to a nearby park, to search her and her vehicle for "safety reasons." At the park, Holtzclaw commented on Barksdale's body and had her turn around, facing away, so that he could search her. Barksdale protested and she asked why a female officer wasn't on scene conducting the search. Holtzclaw proceeded to squeeze both of her breasts from behind. Then, according to Barksdale, he used his right hand and moved it underneath her pants, under her panties, and inserted two fingers into her vagina. He comments, “It's wet and warm.” In response, Barksdale starts to cry. She said Holtzclaw then asked if he could have sex with her inside her car, commenting that “it won't take very long, I'm on duty.” She said Holtzclaw next asked for her ID. She got inside her car and retrieved her ID from her purse and gave it to the officer. Barksdale said she just squatted down beside her car, began crying uncontrollably and yelled “Please just stop!” Holtzclaw bent down and told her, ‘If you tell anyone, I know where you live.’ He then returned to his patrol car and drove away. Barksdale said she got in her car and that all she could do was sit there and cry and thank God out loud that it was over. She then drove home but was simply too scared to tell her boyfriend or anyone else until today.
10:40
According to Detective Gregory's official report, it appears Barksdale admitted she learned about the case through an August 21, 2014 posting to Facebook by local news station KOCO Channel 5. In a link within that posting, Holtzclaw's face and name were published. Also, while the article skimmed over the allegation of several alleged victims, it did focus some on a "fifty-seven year old grandmother who first came forward" and how she was fragile and terrified. Barksdale described Holtzclaw as having black hair, and standing five foot six to five foot seven and about a hundred and fifty pounds. He was muscular with tan skin (possibly Mexican) and he was driving the newer model all black patrol car. On the surface this looks to be Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw's eighth victim. Much like the other accusers, Barksdale claims that Holtzclaw encountered her at night and on a date Holtzclaw was indeed out patrolling. The encounter occurred on the Northeast side of town and pulled her over on a bogus complaint. Holtzclaw made inappropriate comments, approached her from behind, fondled her breasts, her vagina and even solicited sexual intercourse. Like so many of the other accusers, she protested, even pointed out that a female officer should be at the scene. Yet, ultimately, she complied or at least submitted to the sexual assault to avoid getting hurt or taken to jail. But is her story true? According to Detective Gregory's report, as he was interviewing Barksdale, he was simultaneously having OCPD Captain Ron Bacy pull Officer Holtzclaw's patrol car AVL (or GPS) for March 12, 2014. Gregory steps out of the interview room to get an update from Captain Bacy. Holtzclaw was working on the night of March 12th, but his patrol car GPS shows he was never at Northeast Fiftieth and Lincoln. Nor was he ever at Woodland Park. Detective Gregory returns to the interview room and "I then approached Shaniece about problems with some of the details and I had further questions. At that time I was not advising Shaneice she was not telling the truth, so I further investigated". Sensing Detective Gregory doubted her story, she offered to take a polygraph. Barksdale also started backpedaling on the date, since she now knows investigators can track Holtzclaw's movements and they are not matching up. She goes from absolutely certain to "kind of sure." Detective Gregory next points out how off her description is of Officer Holtzclaw. She then begins fidgeting and getting more nervous. She asks if she can leave. Detective Gregory then explains to Barksdale that if she is indeed lying it would hurt the overall case. He further tells her that she needs to come clean and he wouldn't arrest her at this time, but she would get herself into trouble if she continued forward with a false report. At that point, Shaneice admitted it was all a lie. She had never been assaulted by Officer Holtzclaw. Detective Gregory noted, "Shaneice stated that those types of men don't get in trouble. She said she seen the fifty-seven year old female victim speak out and thought she didn't want that woman to be alone. Shaneice admitted she made up the entire story." In fact, she admitted she had never even encountered Holtzclaw at any point. Detective Gregory next asked Barksdale to put her admission of false allegations in writing. He stepped out of the interview room again while she wrote the following: "I felt sorry for the fifty-seven year old woman because of what he did to her, it was so sad and I wanted him to go down for what he did. I am truly sorry, I feel bad for her and I cried for a peaceful outcome on her behalf. Signed, Shaneice Barksdale." The following is the actual recorded interrogation between Shaneice Barksdale and Detective Rocky Gregory when he returned to the interview room.
15:14 [RECORDING BEGINS]
[DOOR CLOSES]
Det. Rocky Gregory: All right. So, to be clear, I’m gonna run down through this. Officer Holtzclaw never s—even stopped you. Is that correct?
Shaneice Barksdale: Mm hmm.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay.
Shaneice Barksdale: Am I in trouble?
Det. Rocky Gregory: Well, I—I—I gotta make sure here, okay? So, he never touched you? [pause] Is that—yes or no?
Shaneice Barksdale: No. I never seen him.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay. [pause] Has any police officer ever touched you in an inappropriate manner? [pause] Yes or no?
Shaneice Barksdale: No.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay. You know why I gotta ask you all these things, right?
Shaneice Barksdale: Uh…
Det. Rocky Gregory: And explain to me again why you came in here. You signed this, this is, this is your piece of paper, this is your story that you gave me, right? Why? And this is the story that you told? Why?
Shaneice Barksdale: I just felt bad for her and I just wanted to know, like, she wasn’t the only victim or anything.
Det. Rocky Gregory: You felt bad for who?
Shaneice Barksdale: That lady. That she was so alone.
Det. Rocky Gregory: W—what lady? I’ve got lots of ladies.
Shaneice Barksdale: Well, the—I only know about the fifty-seven year old.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay.
Shaneice Barksdale: That’s the only one I know about. Cause…
Det. Rocky Gregory: And you found out about her from what?
Shaneice Barksdale: The Facebook.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay.
Shaneice Barksdale: On KOCO 5.
Det. Rocky Gregory: And you decided to do what?
Shaneice Barksdale: Just write. I don’t know. Just do something on her behalf cause I felt bad for her.
Det. Rocky Gregory: So…
Shaneice Barksdale: I wasn’t trying to go to trial or anything.
Det. Rocky Gregory: So…
Shaneice Barksdale: I just wanted to tell a story.
Det. Rocky Gregory: And you thought it would do what?
Shaneice Barksdale: Make her feel like she’s not the only one. But, I didn’t know there was others.
Det. Rocky Gregory: [pause] So you just made up the entire story?
Shaneice Barksdale: Well, I did get pulled over in Woodland Park, but some of that… yeah.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay. But that was on a legit stop?
Shaneice Barksdale: But I didn’t—
Det. Rocky Gregory: But not with Officer Holtzclaw?
Shaneice Barksdale: No.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay, but you lied on everything you said today? Yes or no?
Shaneice Barksdale: Yes.
Det. Rocky Gregory: You made up everything to try to help her out.
Shaneice Barksdale: Cause I felt bad for her.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Well, you got yourself in a bind. Okay?
Shaneice Barksdale: No, please. No, please. I was… Please don’t.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Uh, I don’t know, I’m gonna have to pass this by the DA.
Shaneice Barksdale: You do?
Det. Rocky Gregory: Of course I do.
Shaneice Barksdale: Oh.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Just like I told you, these victims…
Shaneice Barksdale: What’d you say about?
Det. Rocky Gregory: We’re trying to protect these victims.
Shaneice Barksdale: I was trying to… Okay.
Det. Rocky Gregory: No, no, you were just—come in here and you told lies. The truth. Okay. I mean, you’re talking to the guy who arrested the guy, okay? Obviously the police department’s trying to do whatever witcan, okay? We don’t want this guy out here hurting our own citizens. I don’t know why you didn’t think, like, l—let him go down. It’s not like we was trying to cover up everything. You knew we arrested him. We had already come out and told everybody this is what’s going on. The public knows everything about it. I don’t think you watched that news entirely or you would have known a lot more.
Shaneice Barksdale: I don’t watch news. I don’t watch it.
Det. Rocky Gregory: [sigh] I’ll be honest with you. You’re in trouble.
Shaneice Barksdale: No, please.
Det. Rocky Gregory: But let’s just see where it goes. I told you I wouldn’t arrest you today?
Shaneice Barksdale: Huh?
Det. Rocky Gregory: Okay?
Shaneice Barksdale: What did you say?
Det. Rocky Gregory: I said I wouldn’t arrest you today. So, he didn’t, he didn’t stick his hand down your pants. He didn’t touch your breasts. You know, I’m out there trying to look for real victims, now I gotta take time out and work on your lies. There’s others out there that’s real.
Shaneice Barksdale: And, I didn’t, I didn’t know there were more. I thought it was just that one because I felt bad for her, cause she was so old.
Det. Rocky Gregory: If I didn’t have to work on this case, okay, and try to track down real victims, because I’ve had to go to a lot of women stuff happened with, okay? They didn’t come forward. I’ve had to go find them, okay? If I didn’t have that real thing to do right now, I probably would arrest you, okay? Cause you’re taking time out of a very important thing.
Shaneice Barksdale: I’m so sorry.
Det. Rocky Gregory: You have—I mean, it’s already been out there, okay? You should go and watch the news and see where things are at and how many victims. Okay?
Shaneice Barksdale: Yeah. I am so sorry.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Well, you’re probably getting ready to have to say you’re sorry to a whole lotta women. It’s taking everything they got to come forward. Everything. They didn’t want to. And they don’t know about the others either. But stuff happened to them. Just because of one jerk officer, okay, out there doing stuff, that doesn’t mean that there’s a lot of us out here that, that don’t care. And he ain’t the first one I’ve arrested either.
Shaneice Barksdale: A policeman?
Det. Rocky Gregory: We don’t want em. There’s—there’s—there’s bad everywhere. There’s bad pastors, there’s bad doctors, lawyers, cops, firefighters, on and on and on. It doesn’t matter. I mean we all gotta, you gotta weed out the bad and keep the good. That ma—that made the cause worse. All right, let’s go. [Walking] You have your ID?
[RECORDING ENDS]
22:07
Host: You can watch and listen to the complete unedited video of Barksdale and Detective Gregory on this episode's homepage at holtzclawtrial.com, or on my Bates Investigates YouTube channel. Though she was allowed to leave, it wasn't the last time she was going to have to answer for her lies. About two weeks later, on September 8th of 2014, Detective Gregory prepared and filed a Probable Cause Affidavit seeking Barksdale to be charged with a crime. For whatever reason, the Oklahoma County DA's office waited seven whole months before acting on that Affidavit. In March of 2015, prosecutors filed one felony count of Falsely Reporting a Crime against Barksdale. Just over a month later, the DA changed the criminal charge to a misdemeanor. Though Barksdale faced a criminal record, up to ninety days in jail, and a five hundred dollar fine, on March 30th of 2016 (almost a year later) she was allowed a plea deal in which she was sentenced to just probation, no jail, and a hundred dollar fine. Just in case you're thinking to yourself, ‘Well, maybe this was her first offense, so she deserved a second chance.’ You'd be wrong. According to Detective Gregory's own notes, Barksdale's criminal history includes: Possession of Marijuana, Petty Larceny, curfew violations, two Larceny of Merchandise cases, and a felony Embezzlement by Clerk case. All of that said, to me the criminal charges and light sentence are not the most important aspects of this part of the investigation. So, let’s take a closer look. For one, this highlights something Detectives Davis and Gregory knew all along and certainly knew would be the reality once they sought the arrest warrant for Holtzclaw - people would come forward in droves to claim they too were victims. I recall these comments by Davis and Gregory when they were interviewed by Michelle Malkin for her documentary, Daniel in the Den, the Truth About the Daniel Holtzclaw case.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Det. Kim Davis: …the trial.
Det. Rocky Gregory: After it hit the media, we really had to be kind of protective as far as just absolutely even just believing anything. We had to really kind of dissect cause now it was out there some people thought of money, or just wanted the attention, or however.
Michelle Malkin: So, there, there are plenty of reasons to lie, including sort of g—
Det. Rocky Gregory: Get out of trouble.
Michelle Malkin: Yeah.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Yes.
Michelle Malkin: And money, as you said, was a, was a big factor for, for people.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Correct.
Michelle Malkin: I mean, I—they wanted to cash in.
Det. Kim Davis: After they saw it on the TV they were like, ‘Ooh, I can get in on this.’ And…
Michelle Malkin: And let’s be—this kind of case, and these kind of allegations are sort of a magnet for, for people who are looking to cash in.
Det. Kim Davis: Right.
Det. Rocky Gregory: Yes.
Michelle Malkin: Yeah.
[RECORDING ENDS]
25:11
Host: I'd argue the opportunity for people to begin lying, however, happened as soon as accuser Ligons decided, without the approval of detectives, to go public just five days after her encounter with Officer Holtzclaw. And I'd also argue that lying is virtually being encouraged by detectives when they seek out women and tell them up front that they already think they are a victim and then share what a really bad guy they think Holtzclaw is. It does exactly what Barksdale said she did... she lied because she thought there were real victims and she simply wanted to give their allegations credibility. I'd also argue her past financial based crimes also probably show she too would have been looking to file a lawsuit seeking monetary damages. Regardless, let’s look closer at how Detective Gregory handled this alleged accuser and exactly how he determined she was not credible. According to Gregory's September Affidavit, he first became suspicious of Barksdale's story because of her description of Officer Daniel Holtzclaw. "Barksdale described him as being five six and a hundred and fifty pounds, which is way off from his height and weight." That is true. However, an accuser's description not matching Holtzclaw has hardly ever been any concern in the past to Detectives Davis or Gregory. Accuser Jannie Ligons described her attacker as older than Holtzclaw by almost twenty years, short, with blond hair, acne-scarred skin, and forty pounds lighter than he actually is. Accuser Tabitha Barnes described him as having light brown hair and darker skin she compared to Native American. Accuser Carla Johnson described her attacker as only five foot nine (Daniel’s six two) and she, like others, thought he was part Mexican or Native American. Accuser Carla Raines said her attacker was tan, estimated his weight by fifty pounds less than he really is, and guessed his age to be a decade more than reality. Accuser Terri Morris described Holtzclaw as much older with dark skin, driving the older style black and white patrol car and couldn't pick him out of a photo lineup. And how can we forget accuser Sherri Ellis? She described her attacker as a short, dark skinned black male. In reality, six of the seven current accusers that Detective Gregory did decide to believe, all gave descriptions that varied either slightly or significantly from Daniel Holtzclaw. But Detective Gregory obviously didn't just rely on physical descriptions to determine credibility.
28:07
He next noted in his Affidavit that "in checking the vehicle GPS for Officer Holtzclaw, he never was in those areas that night." That is true. Holtzclaw's patrol car GPS shows he never stopped at Northeast Fiftieth or Woodland Park on March 12, 2014. Even though he did work that night and those locations fall within his patrol area. Keep in mind, there was no GPS to compare to in the Ligons incident and she too gave a description that doesn't match Holtzclaw. How did Detective Gregory determine that maybe Barksdale hadn't been assaulted while Holtzclaw was off duty, when his GPS is disengaged? There is no mention in any file regarding Barksdale's allegations as to what time she claims the stop occurred. As we know, Terri Morris couldn't pick Holtzclaw out of a photo lineup based on his description and she too initially claimed Holtzclaw attacked her in an area his patrol car GPS shows he was never in. Even the date she gave made the assault impossible. She also was uncooperative and even signed a waiver asking not to be involved. Yet, Detective Gregory never questioned her credibility. Accuser Ellis, the one who said her attacker was a short, dark skinned, black male - she gave a specific location Holtzclaw's GPS pings prove he could not have driven to. And what about accuser Florene Mathis? She was adamant she was assaulted on either Northeast Seventeenth or Northeast Eighteenth and Kate, by the park, but detectives knew Holtzclaw had never stopped at any of those locations. But the discrepancies, both in physical description and location never led detectives doubting the other seven accusers and they never even challenged those false assertions. Not even when Holtzclaw was described as short and black. Trust me, we have six more accusers to go, and their descriptions and alleged locations are going to have major issues also and those issues go unchallenged or even questioned by investigators.
30:33
Finally, Detective Gregory mentions "other discrepancies were made by suspect Barksdale as well." But he doesn't specify what those discrepancies were. One of the things I found interesting was the number of similarities between Barksdale's allegations and the other accusers. Things that were not in the news report she had seen on Facebook the day before. Like, the alleged assaults occurred at night. That Holtzclaw patted the women down and allegedly fondled them while standing behind them. And, what really got my attention was Barksdale's claim that she openly challenged Holtzclaw by stating a female officer should be performing any search of her person. That same assertion was made by accusers Morris, Barnes, Johnson, and Raines, but wasn't yet disclosed publicly in news reports. So, what exactly did make Detective Gregory decide Shaneice Barksdale was lying? And why didn't discrepancies in Barksdale's allegations not result in the same doubts with other victims he was of the opinion were telling the truth? Unfortunately, Detective Gregory has never fully answered any of those questions. Regardless, there's two red flags in his official report that I want to point out and I think one is further evidence that Detective Rocky Gregory is either a habitual liar or simply has no attention to detail so his reports and testimony should always be highly scrutinized. For one, there is zero mention of whether or not Detective Gregory ever sought to find out if Holtzclaw had indeed ever stopped Barksdale or even ran her name through the police crime databases. In every single case, except accuser Ligons, investigators didn't even need Holtzclaw's GPS because he actually called in his contact with the individual to dispatch or ran them on his patrol car computer. So, it only stands to reason that Gregory would check to see who all ran Barksdale, but if he did, he never mentions it in any report. That said I don't believe for a second that Detective Gregory wouldn't have looked to see if Holtzclaw had ever run Barksdale's name; if for no other reason than to see if maybe she's just getting her dates wrong. Keep in mind, virtually none of the accusers up to this point can pinpoint an exact date - and when they do, it often doesn't match Holtzclaw's patrol car GPS records.
33:17
Speaking of Holtzclaw's patrol car AVL or GPS - did you catch what Detective Gregory did that apparently would be very unique to Barksdale's interview? He clearly states in his report that as the interview was being conducted, he had Captain Bacy simultaneously checking Holtzclaw's GPS records. Remember, that's why he steps out during his interview of Barksdale. I find it really odd. In every accuser's investigation, the detectives claim they sought patrol car AVL records after they had interviewed an accuser, often days later. In fact, during the criminal trial, detectives are questioned about when AVL records are sought and over and over again they claim it's never before or during their interviews with potential victims, it's always after. This, from page 2,220 of the jury trial transcript by Detective Rocky Gregory: "We didn't pull the AVL until after we had spoke with the victim and they had started to confirm maybe some of the things that happened to them if they were indeed a victim. It wasn't until that time that we would check the AVL." Looking forward, I can tell you, we have six more accusers to go and in every case the AVL is allegedly not pulled until days later, and only after the interviews are complete, and sometimes the AVL varies greatly from their allegations. So, why the change in procedure this time, with this accuser? Or, has that actually been the procedure all along and Detective Gregory is simply denying it? Remember back in episode six with accuser Terri Morris, nowhere in Detective Gregory's reports did he disclose he showed a map to Morris. In fact, when questioned at trial by Holtzclaw's defense attorney Scott Adams, Detective Gregory denied showing her a map when specifically asked. It wasn't until it became painfully clear that she was shown a map that Detective Gregory finally came clean and admitted that's exactly what he had done. He also admitted during the trial that he knew with a hundred percent certainty that Morris lied during some of her courtroom testimony. Detectives also forwarded the fact accuser Florene Mathis was allegedly assaulted at Northeast Seventeenth or Northeast Eighteenth and Kate, even after they knew that was impossible. So, lying appears to be of little concern to the detectives in this case. This might also explain several of the meetings Detective Gregory had with accusers that were suspiciously not audio recorded and no detailed notes or reports exist of those meetings. Were detectives going over maps, GPS coordinates and other details to try and bolster accuser's allegations?
36:25
While that may simply be my speculation, what is clear is that Detective Gregory himself claims he came to the conclusion that Barksdale was lying, simply because her physical description of him was off and Holtzclaw's patrol car GPS didn't match the date she provided. Though it isn't stated in reports, I also have to assume he knew Holtzclaw had never run her through his computer. This is important, because this is the bar that he has set on his own investigation. As long as he can show Holtzclaw had any contact whatsoever with an accuser, then, in his mind, Holtzclaw must be guilty of anything they claim to be a victim of. That's a pretty low bar for credibility when you consider he and Detective Davis intentionally only sought out women whom Holtzclaw had previously contacted and their descriptions and recollections of dates are often wrong. And Barksdale won't be the last accuser that will eventually admit to lying. In fact, on the same day Barksdale was making her false allegations against Officer Holtzclaw, another woman, identified as Shakara Walker, also proclaimed to be a victim and did so on the local news. Here's a portion of that news story.
[RECORDING BEGINS]
Amanda Taylor: Good evening, as an Oklahoma City Police Officer sits behind bars accused of preying on women while on the job, people in his patrol area in Northeast OKC are reacting with both shock, but also relief.
Kelly Ogle: Daniel Holtzclaw faces nine felony sex crimes charges. News 9’s Steve Shaw is live at the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Springlake Division tonight. Steve…
Steve Shaw: Kelly and Amanda, Daniel Holtzclaw has worked out of this precinct for the last three years. Investigators say there could be more victims, and when you hear what you’re about to hear there just may be. [Shakara Walker speaking in background] Shakara Walker lives a few blocks from one of the spots investigators allege Daniel Holtzclaw sexually assaulted one of his victims last March. Walker says she ran into Holtzclaw last week.
Shakara Walker: Uh, as I was walking to the house, he tried to grab me and make it seem like he was gonna rape me.
Steve Shaw: Seriously?
Shakara Walker: No, I’m dead serious.
Steve Shaw: Was he in a police car?
Shakara Walker: Yeah, he was in a police suit and a police car.
Steve Shaw: And that’s the guy, you’ve seen him on TV.
Shakara Walker: Yeah.
Steve Shaw: That is the guy.
Shakara Walker: Yeah, that’s the guy.
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39:02
Host: Another red flag that popped up in Walker's allegations was also the undoing of other false accusers - not only did Officer Holtzclaw never have contact with Walker, but she claimed the assault happened just days earlier. And, as we know, Holtzclaw at this point had been on Administrative Leave for over two months. And it's not just false accusers coming forward… It’s also people indirectly involved in the case that are now revising their previous stories, lying to bolster the credibility of friends and family who have made allegations. Remember accuser Terri Morris from episodes five and six and how her former boyfriend, Christopher Shelton, called police on her because she was tearing up his vehicle because she was upset that he had left her for another woman? Well, he's giving a different story now that the story is all over the news. Here's a clip of what he told KOCO News Channel 5 just two days after Daniel Holtzclaw is arrested.
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Christopher Shelton: She didn’t wanna call ‘em.
Dave Detling: Mm hmm.
Christopher Shelton: Because she was fear of retaliation.
Morgan Chesky: Living in fear of those whose job it is to serve and protect. Tonight we’re learning more about the police officer accused of sexually assaulting seven women. Good evening and thanks for joining us, I’m Morgan Chesky. Tonight Daniel Holtzclaw is in Oklahoma County Jail and investigators say from February to June the officer preyed on women he pulled over. KOCO’s Dave Detling live tonight on the Northeast side with the story of one of those encounters. Dave…
Dave Detling: Hey, good evening, Morgan. Well, behind me the gas station where police interviewed one of the women involved in this assault investigation. Tonight we are hearing from that victim’s friend who dialed 9-1-1.
Christopher Shelton: I told them that, uh, I had a victim up here of rape.
Dave Detling: Christopher Shelton remembers the night he called 9-1-1 after seeing his female friend walking near Northeast Twenty Third Street and Kelley. He says she was in need of help and upset.
Christopher Shelton: When she got in the car she just busted out crying.
Dave Detling: He says it was about an incident with an officer, later identified as Daniel Holtzclaw.
Christopher Shelton: She said, ‘Oh no, they’re not gonna do anything.’ And I said, ‘You must try.’
Dave Detling: Shelton’s friend is one of seven victims who’ve come forward in the case against this Oklahoma City Police Officer. Shelton says the allegations are a wakeup call for the Northeast side. He says he’ll be watching the investigation closely while praying for the victims.
Christopher Shelton: They’re human. So even though they have authority figure, they—you’re gonna have to expect that there are some bad ones. You know? Not, uh, all of us are perfect.
Dave Detling: And tonight, Holtzclaw remains locked up in the County Jail on a five million dollar bond, and the Chief of Police for Oklahoma City PD saying they are working very hard to restore the public’s trust. We’re on the Northeast side, Dave Detling, KOCO 5 news.
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42:00
Host: Shelton now claims he called police to report Morris' rape and that he encouraged her to come forward. That's not at all how it happened, and you heard Shelton's 9-1-1 call here, exclusively on this podcast. In reality, as noted in Detective Gregory's official investigative report, when Morris told Shelton she had been raped by a police officer, it was as she was cussing at him for leaving her for another woman. Shelton told Detective Gregory he told Morris to be quiet and that he didn't want to hear about it because he didn't believe her. Shelton only dialed 9-1-1 because Morris wouldn't get out of his car and she was literally tearing it up. That was the sole reason that he told the dispatcher that he was requesting police assistance. And the lies, they get even more outrageous. Not only did women in Oklahoma City's Northeast side come forward, but so did at least one man. According to Detective Gregory's case file, fifty-nine year old Southeast Oklahoma City resident, Terry Roy Dunn, Senior claimed that he too had been sexually assaulted by Officer Holtzclaw. And the date? October 31, 2014. That's over four months after Officer Holtzclaw had been placed on Administrative Leave and two months after he had been arrested. According to Dunn, at around 8:00am he was at the 7-Eleven at Southeast Forty Fourth and Shields in his car. That's when he said two or three patrol cars showed up and he was detained. Dunn claimed that it was Officer Holtzclaw that searched him three different times during that stop and that each time Holtzclaw used his hand to rub Dunn's penis on the outside of his clothing. Dunn even described Holtzclaw as five foot nine to five foot ten, white male, muscular with short hair. Dunn said that he was certain it was Officer Daniel Holtzclaw. However, according to Detective Gregory, when Dunn was confronted with the fact it couldn't have been Holtzclaw, Dunn "didn't know what to say." Instead of arresting Dunn for making a false allegation, he was instead allowed to sign a Refusal to Prosecute Form where he wrote down that he was now declining to pursue charges because he was just trying to "help OCPD and the other victims." In an upcoming episode, another false accuser will eventually be given twenty-five thousand dollars by the City of Oklahoma City based on allegations against Officer Holtzclaw. But those stories and more are for future episodes.
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If you'd like to see photos of false accusers Barksdale, Walker, Dunn and more, checkout the episode eighteen highlights on our Instagram profile @holtzclawtrial. If you want to watch the unedited video of Barksdale's interview with Detective Gregory and read all of the investigative reports and more, checkout this episode’s homepage at holtzclawtrial.com. This serialized podcast of the State of Oklahoma vs. Daniel Holtzclaw follows the timeline and perspective of the prosecution, but with the scrutiny of the defense. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to subscribe and give us a five star review. You can also follow updates on this season’s Facebook page at In Defense of Daniel Holtzclaw, or on Twitter and Instagram @HoltzclawTrial. Bates Investigates - Season One: In Defense of Daniel Holtzclaw is researched, produced, and edited by me, Brian Bates. This has been a bug stomper production.
[child singing] Huh? [squishing sound] [laughter] Bugs!
