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The Case of Daniel Holtzclaw
📻 Episode #579
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Jun 25, 2026
About This Episode
At 2 AM, on June 18th, 2014, Daniel Holtzclaw finished up his shift as an Oklahoma City police officer and made his way home in his all black cruiser. He saw a car swerving and pulled over 57-year-old daycare provider Jannie Ligons. About 3 hours later, Ms Ligons would claim that Officer Holtzclaw forced her…
The Case
At 2 AM, on June 18th, 2014, Daniel Holtzclaw finished up his shift as an Oklahoma City police officer and made his way home in his all black cruiser. He saw a car swerving and pulled over 57-year-old daycare provider Jannie Ligons. About 3 hours later, Ms Ligons would claim that Officer Holtzclaw forced her to perform oral sodomy through the fly of his uniform pants from the back seat of his squad car. Her mouth swab would come up empty for Daniel’s DNA, as would a search of his uniform for hers, but nonetheless, an investigation would be launched into Daniel Holtzclaw’s field contacts with at risk African American women, soliciting stories of sexual impropriety. 21 accusers made allegations, and a media circus ensued, bolstering a grim and growing narrative of law enforcement officers abusing their authority. 8 of those 21 claims were immediately dismissed by investigators, and they still moved forward with the 13 other questionable or otherwise ill-fitting claims. Through the misconstruing of DNA evidence, 8 of the remaining 13 allegations resulted in 18 convictions. Former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw is currently serving a 263 year sentence in an undisclosed correctional facility under an assumed name for crimes he did not commit.
Please listen to our coverage and find out more at: http://www.freedanielholtzclaw.com.
Sign the petition in support of Daniel’s freedom at: https://www.change.org/p/free-daniel-holtzclaw-an-innocent-man-wrongfully-convicted
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:06:00“Speaker 5: brother have really done this, And everything that I've looked into, Speaker 5: everything that I've read, not just because he's my brother, Speaker 5: but just because the facts of everything that I put Speaker 5: my hands on, nothing pointed to Daniel's guilt. If there Speaker 5: was anything that proved or showed anything, I would back”
00:22:28“Speaker 6: that mindset, that bias that developed into tunnel vision on Speaker 6: Daniel right from the beginning of the investigation, and then Speaker 6: went out and solicited allegations from women whom Daniel had stopped. Speaker 6: And it's no surprise that some of the women did remember, yes,”
00:37:06“Speaker 1: for twenty one years of his sentence. Conviction two originally Speaker 1: described her attacker as shorter than five to eleven and black, Speaker 1: which obviously is not Daniel, who was six' two and Speaker 1: ethnically Half, european Half, japanese and she confirmed That daniel Speaker 1: was not her attacker during her. Deposition how do you”
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Also on the podcast: #26 Daniel Tapia · #104 Daniel Holtzclaw · #121 False Confessions - Daniel Villegas