Pyongyang on the Prairie Part 2
Daniel Holtzclaw
Two weeks ago  I reported that former Oklahoma City Police Department senior forensic analyst Elaine Taylor is the mother-in-law of Detective Rocky Gregory  who co-led the investigation of former OCPD officer Daniel Holtzclaw. This information was not disclosed by police or prosecutors before  during  or after a biased investigation  botched forensic analysis and testimony  and chaotic trial that resulted in a 263-year sentence for Holtzclaw -- who has maintained his complete and actual innocence from the start and is appealing his convictions.
2) How was Taylor assigned to the Daniel Holtzclaw case  on which Det. Gregory served as co-lead sex-crimes unit investigator?
Smith failed to answer how Taylor was assigned to the case. He did  however  admit that the "administration of the OCPD was aware of the relationship between Elaine Taylor and Rocky Gregory." Yet  the administration did not disclose this relationship to  Holtzclaw 's defense team  which was then denied an opportunity to cross-examine Taylor and Gregory about that relationship to impeach the witnesses by uncovering potential bias and prejudice against  Holtzclaw .
Finally  Smith glibly asserted  "the forensic lab did not have a  Holtzclaw  case."
1) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Rocky Gregory  interrogated  Holtzclaw  with Det. Davis on June 18  2014  just 14 hours after  Holtzclaw  pulled over Jannie Ligons at an end-of-shift traffic stop.
2) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Rocky Gregory  mishandled and potentially contaminated the evidence bag used to store  Holtzclaw 's uniform pants -- the linchpin forensic evidence examined and tested by his mother-in-law.
As forensic expert Dr. Michael Spence noted in a sworn affidavit supporting  Holtzclaw 's motion for an evidentiary hearing:
"At the June 18  2014  interrogation of Officer Holtzclaw  investigators secured the uniform pants at about 6:00 p.m. At the beginning of this process  video footage showed Detective Gregory placing his bare hand into the evidence bag. The detective proceeded to push on the bottom of the bag -- in order to fully open it.  Officer Holtzclaw  could then be seen handling  his  utility belt   his  cell phone   his  pockets   his  wallet  and  his  keys -- (SET ITAL) all prior (END ITAL) to unclasping his belt  unzipping his fly  and removing his pants. In addition to the obvious DNA transfer issues associated with this order of events  both the belt and the pants collected from  Officer Holtzclaw  were placed in (SET ITAL) one bag (END ITAL). Consequently  these items were stored together  transported together  and remained together  until the moment that the lab analyst accessed the contents of the evidence bag."
3) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Rocky Gregory  was present during the search of  Holtzclaw 's car in the wake of Ligons' sexual assault allegation. All of the swabs taken from the car were submitted to the OCPD crime lab. In fact  when Elaine Taylor called Det. Davis to ask a question about the swabs  Det. Davis replied that she could not answer the questions because "I did not ask for those swabs to be taken."
4) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Gregory  was one of six participants in a meeting at the Springlake Division before  Holtzclaw  was taken to headquarters to be questioned about the Ligons stop.
6) After  Holtzclaw 's interrogation  forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Gregory  accompanied  Holtzclaw  to his home  where Det. Gregory failed to take key pieces of forensic evidence  including  Holtzclaw 's underwear (which Det. Gregory incorrectly assumed had been washed) and other uniforms.
7) Richard Smith's denial that the crime lab handled a "Holtzclaw case" is contradicted by the lab's own assignment of just two case numbers -- SD14-273 and SD14-399 -- for all the evidence tested. Both lab case numbers list the defendant as "Holtzclaw  Daniel." Lab case No. SD14-273 combined evidence from several accusers' allegations under that one case  beginning with Ligons' allegations and including DNA from nine other accusers (Terri Morris  Sherry Ellis  Florene Mathis  Carla Johnson  Rosetta Grate  Kala Lyles  Regina Copeland  Adaira Gardner and Syrita Bowen)  as well as DNA from  Holtzclaw  and his then-girlfriend Kerri Hunt.
8) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Gregory  was one of 12 OCPD officials who executed a search warrant at 633 Culbertson Drive on Sept. 3  2014  the residence where accuser Rosetta Grate alleged  Holtzclaw  assaulted her and where she alleged she had left DNA evidence on the back of a chair and on a towel she claimed she left in a bedroom closet. Taylor conducted testing on evidence collected at this scene where her son-in-law  who had earlier mishandled DNA evidence collection at  Holtzclaw 's interrogation  was present.
In other words  Det. Gregory and Det. Davis  supervised by Lt. Muzny  consolidated the forensic evidence in the Morris and Ligons cases under 14-049050 (the case number assigned to Ligons' incident) since they were both "related" to  Holtzclaw . As described previously  the police submitted DNA from Ligons and nine other accusers under Ligons' lab case No. SD14-273. Police incident number 14-49050 (Ligons' case) is present on many evidence documents signed by Elaine Taylor (such as chain of custody forms for accusers' buccal swabs). This means that Taylor was well aware that numerous alleged victims were involved in No. 14-049050 -- not just Jannie Ligons.
In sum  Det. Gregory was actively and intimately involved in the  Holtzclaw  investigation from day one  including participating in a strategic meeting with higher-ups before  Holtzclaw 's interrogation  conducting the interrogation with Det. Davis  overseeing the search of  Holtzclaw 's vehicle  and participating in the formulation of a photo lineup for accuser Ligons (which Det. Davis nixed). Det. Gregory personally collected and directly submitted DNA evidence in the Holtzclaw case to his mother-in-law and participated in a raid of a home where more DNA evidence in the Holtzclaw case was collected and submitted to his mother-in-law.
Taylor's collaboration with the prosecution to emphasize that the DNA on  Holtzclaw 's pants that she matched to accuser Adaira Gardner was most likely from vaginal fluid transfer "not only contradicted the scientific results " according to Dr. Spence  but also "defied the logic that wearers typically leave DNA on their frequently used garments." He further noted that the minuscule quantities of DNA mixtures found on  Holtzclaw 's pants "were quite consistent with the expected transfer of epithelial skin cells during incidental handling events."
Two weeks ago  I reported that former Oklahoma City Police Department senior forensic analyst Elaine Taylor is the mother-in-law of Detective Rocky Gregory  who co-led the investigation of  [TGT] . This information was not disclosed by police or prosecutors before  during  or after a biased investigation  botched forensic analysis and testimony  and chaotic trial that resulted in a 263-year sentence for Holtzclaw -- who has maintained his complete and actual innocence from the start and is appealing his convictions.
2) How was Taylor assigned to  [TGT] on which Det. Gregory served as co-lead sex-crimes unit investigator?
Smith failed to answer how Taylor was assigned to  [TGT] . He did  however  admit that the "administration of the OCPD was aware of the relationship between Elaine Taylor and Rocky Gregory." Yet  the administration did not disclose this relationship to  Holtzclaw 's defense team  which was then denied an opportunity to cross-examine Taylor and Gregory about that relationship to impeach the witnesses by uncovering potential bias and prejudice against  Holtzclaw .
Finally  Smith glibly asserted  "the forensic lab did not have a  Holtzclaw  case."
1) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Rocky Gregory  interrogated  Holtzclaw  with Det. Davis on June 18  2014  just 14 hours after  Holtzclaw  pulled over Jannie Ligons at an end-of-shift traffic stop.
2) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Rocky Gregory  mishandled and potentially contaminated the evidence bag used to store  Holtzclaw 's uniform pants -- the linchpin forensic evidence examined and tested by his mother-in-law.
As forensic expert Dr. Michael Spence noted in a sworn affidavit supporting  Holtzclaw 's motion for an evidentiary hearing:
"At the June 18  2014  interrogation of Officer Holtzclaw  investigators secured the uniform pants at about 6:00 p.m. At the beginning of this process  video footage showed Detective Gregory placing his bare hand into the evidence bag. The detective proceeded to push on the bottom of the bag -- in order to fully open it.  Officer Holtzclaw  could then be seen handling  his  utility belt   his  cell phone   his  pockets   his  wallet  and  his  keys -- (SET ITAL) all prior (END ITAL) to unclasping his belt  unzipping his fly  and removing his pants. In addition to the obvious DNA transfer issues associated with this order of events  both the belt and the pants collected from  Officer Holtzclaw  were placed in (SET ITAL) one bag (END ITAL). Consequently  these items were stored together  transported together  and remained together  until the moment that the lab analyst accessed the contents of the evidence bag."
3) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Rocky Gregory  was present during the search of  Holtzclaw 's car in the wake of Ligons' sexual assault allegation. All of the swabs taken from the car were submitted to the OCPD crime lab. In fact  when Elaine Taylor called Det. Davis to ask a question about the swabs  Det. Davis replied that she could not answer the questions because "I did not ask for those swabs to be taken."
4) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Gregory  was one of six participants in a meeting at the Springlake Division before  Holtzclaw  was taken to headquarters to be questioned about the Ligons stop.
6) After  Holtzclaw 's interrogation  forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Gregory  accompanied  Holtzclaw  to his home  where Det. Gregory failed to take key pieces of forensic evidence  including  Holtzclaw 's underwear (which Det. Gregory incorrectly assumed had been washed) and other uniforms.
7) Richard Smith's denial that the crime lab handled a "Holtzclaw case" is contradicted by the lab's own assignment of just two case numbers -- SD14-273 and SD14-399 -- for all the evidence tested. Both lab case numbers list the defendant as "Holtzclaw  Daniel." Lab case No. SD14-273 combined evidence from several accusers' allegations under that one case  beginning with Ligons' allegations and including DNA from nine other accusers (Terri Morris  Sherry Ellis  Florene Mathis  Carla Johnson  Rosetta Grate  Kala Lyles  Regina Copeland  Adaira Gardner and Syrita Bowen)  as well as DNA from  Holtzclaw  and his then-girlfriend Kerri Hunt.
8) Forensic analyst Elaine Taylor's son-in-law  Det. Gregory  was one of 12 OCPD officials who executed a search warrant at 633 Culbertson Drive on Sept. 3  2014  the residence where accuser Rosetta Grate alleged  Holtzclaw  assaulted her and where she alleged she had left DNA evidence on the back of a chair and on a towel she claimed she left in a bedroom closet. Taylor conducted testing on evidence collected at this scene where her son-in-law  who had earlier mishandled DNA evidence collection at  Holtzclaw 's interrogation  was present.
In other words  Det. Gregory and Det. Davis  supervised by Lt. Muzny  consolidated the forensic evidence in the Morris and Ligons cases under 14-049050 (the case number assigned to Ligons' incident) since they were both "related" to  Holtzclaw . As described previously  the police submitted DNA from Ligons and nine other accusers under Ligons' lab case No. SD14-273. Police incident number 14-49050 (Ligons' case) is present on many evidence documents signed by Elaine Taylor (such as chain of custody forms for accusers' buccal swabs). This means that Taylor was well aware that numerous alleged victims were involved in No. 14-049050 -- not just Jannie Ligons.
In sum  Det. Gregory was actively and intimately involved in the  Holtzclaw  investigation from day one  including participating in a strategic meeting with higher-ups before  Holtzclaw 's interrogation  conducting the interrogation with Det. Davis  overseeing the search of  Holtzclaw 's vehicle  and participating in the formulation of a photo lineup for accuser Ligons (which Det. Davis nixed). Det. Gregory personally collected and directly submitted DNA evidence in the Holtzclaw case to his mother-in-law and participated in a raid of a home where more DNA evidence in the Holtzclaw case was collected and submitted to his mother-in-law.
Taylor's collaboration with the prosecution to emphasize that the DNA on   [TGT]  's pants that  [TGT]  matched to accuser Adaira Gardner was most likely from vaginal fluid transfer "not only contradicted the scientific results " according to Dr. Spence  but also "defied the logic that wearers typically leave DNA on their frequently used garments." He further noted that the minuscule quantities of DNA mixtures found on  Holtzclaw 's pants "were quite consistent with the expected transfer of epithelial skin cells during incidental handling events."