and now abc's "20/20." >> reporter: it was the courtroom collapse that went viral. >> come forward. >> reporter: the whole country watching. >> to keep the pressure on. >> reporter: a college football standoff, a body builder, a tough-guy cop begging for his life. >> i feel like it's all a movie and we're going to wake up and it's gonna be over. >> reporter: his girlfriend standing by him. did you ever have doubt in your mind, like maybe i missed something? >> reporter: his family going through their savings, to save him.

what's it like watching your son be portrayed as a monster, a serial rapist, a predator? >> it's very hard. he's not the villain that they portrayed him as. >> reporter: but a dogged detective, his very own colleague, questions him. >> not sexual went on? >> not sexual went on. >> reporter: gathering evidence inside the room. tonight, on "20/20" we're taking you inside the case that made national headlines. >> women terrorized during late-night, off-the record traffic stops. >> she begged him please don't do this. >> reporter: attacks nobody would report except one fearless grandmother. >> he picked the wrong person to stop that night. >> reporter: 13 accusers in all.

but will a jury buy what they're saying. what's it like when you have a witness who's high on pcp? the verdict is coming down. >> this is what it looked like about 100 people cramming, elbowing, and pushing their way into the courtroom. >> reporter: he never spoke in court but lest talking now only on "20/20." what the dash cam never saw. >> good evening. i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. how many of us felt the dread of getting pulled over by a policeman? maybe a tail light out, could be anything. but a group of women terrorized. >> an american cop and the women who speak out. we know you have a lot of say. join the conversation. live on twitter and facebook as the story up folds. here's abc's juju chang. >> what is your name? >> daniel. >> daniel, just have a seat in here. >> okay. >> and.

>> which seat would you like me in? >> reporter: you've seen the good cop/bad cop routine. but never one quite like this. in a tiny overheated interrogation room in oklahoma city, the good cop, detective kim davis, 28 years on the job, is very good. >> this will make the rumors go away. >> reporter: and the bad cop, patrolman daniel holtzclaw, is, allegedly, very bad indeed. he is not here to solve a crime, he's the suspect. >> you have the right to remain silent, do you understand that? >> right. >> okay, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. >> reporter: oklahoma city has a hard core cowboy culture and a state capitol with its own oil wells. but at night, beyond the blur of traffic and the neon rainbow glow of the skydance bridge, there is a dangerous side of the little city on the prairie, the northeast. police chief bill citty knows it well. >> there's a lot of gang activity. it's a lower-income area and there has been, in the past, a lot of crime in that area. >> i am willing to make a statement and answer any questions at this time.

i do not want an attorney present at this time. >> reporter: officer holtzclaw is accused of sexually assaulting a woman he pulled over on the night shift just hours earlier. it's a stunning tumble for the hulking former football hero. >> in on the tackle. >> reporter: his loving family says he's always been a gentle giant. his dad, eric, and mom, kumiko, and sister, jenny, have many mementos of his gridiron glory. holtzclaw, nicknamed "the claw" by teammates, was a football star in high school and all american at eastern michigan university. >> what a story holtzclaw is, young man out of enid, oklahoma. >> he excelled in football. he became an all-state player at enid high. he was recruited to a division i school. >> reporter: he wanted to go play in the nfl? >> he wanted to be a pro football player, and that was his dream. >> reporter: the lifelong dream dashed the night of the nfl draft. >> the kansas city chiefs select tyson jackson.

>> he just didn't make the cut. it's really competitiv >> reporter: it's the disappointment of a lifetime. holtzclaw turns from pro football dreams to his second career choice, police work. he continues to stack muscles on his linebacker physique, endless hours in the gym pumping iron. that's where he meets his girlfriend, who asked us not to use her name. they bond over barbells and body building. >> my best words to describe him is a big teddy bear. i mean, he's really sweet, he's really kind. >> good night, baby. >> reporter: and religious too. she says they attended church every week. daniel would send her bible verse selfies. >> romans 12:10. >> love one another -- >> reporter: he even had a verse tattooed on his arm. >> "i can do all things through christ that strengthens me." >> reporter: they'd only been together six months, but were already thinking about forever. >> do you think this was leading to marriage? >> definitely. >> reporter: holtzclaw is little more than a rookie, just three years on the job, but already

getting a reputation as an aggressive officer. a pair of brass knuckles in his patrol car. a local newspaper says he enjoys chasing down the bad guys as much as opposing run backs on the football field. his dad, eric holtzclaw, is a police officer too, in the family's hometown of enid, oklahoma. >> i would say he was a proactive police officer. he liked to get in the mix. he wanted to catch the bad guys. he was very proud of that. he wanted to make a difference. >> i've never been in trouble like this before. i've never got accused of anything like this. >> reporter: but holtzclaw is a cop in a tight spot. >> we told you that there was a traffic stop that somebody had made some allegations against an officer. >> right. >> reporter: it's 2:00 that morning, off duty, driving home in his police car, which many officers do in oklahoma city. holtzclaw made a traffic stop. >> do you make traffic stops normally after work? >> i don't, but in that case i saw her swerve and what not. >> reporter: holtzclaw describes a routine stop.

no ticket, just a warning about her expired driver's license. >> i'm like, okay, i'm -- i'm just off work. i'm tired. get your license taken care of. and i cut her loose after that. >> then where did you go? >> i went straight home. >> reporter: he admits he never bothered to call it in, and in another violation of procedure, had shut down the communications and gps tracking system in his patrol car, something he says he always did after work. >> so, did you run her on your mdt? >> no, i didn't. all my -- all my stuff as far as that, because i didn't call it in and say i was on a traffic stop. my computer was off and everything as well. >> reporter: but that female driver is telling police a very different story. she says the officer made her expose herself and sexually assaulted her right there in the back of his patrol car by the side of the road. >> well, was there anything, an accidental touch, anything? >> if she thought it -- when i pat searched her. but i didn't. it was nothing as far as, i felt like i didn't do anything as far

as sexual or anything like that. >> reporter: detective davis had met with the woman earlier that morning. >> what was your first impression of her? >> her makeup was smeared because she'd been crying. i mean, i can see her face right now, and the fear in her eyes, and in her facial expression. and nothing sexual went on? >> nothing. >> during that 15 minutes? >> nothing sexual. >> reporter: holtzclaw's sister says all she sees is a man telling the truth. when you look at the interrogation video, what do you see? >> that's daniel. daniel being honest, straightforward, he had nothing to hide. >> reporter: detective davis disagrees. >> i just thought he was very robotic. >> reporter: he didn't express any shock. >> no, if i was accused of something like that, my voice would probably go up ten octaves, and i'd be like, "what? i didn't do that." did your pants come unzipped, unbuttoned, anything, while you were standing right there? >> no. >> reporter: but after more than

two hours cornered in that stifling interrogation room -- >> i don't know if this shirt is going to be big enough for you. you're a big old boy. >> reporter: he's stripped of his badge, his gun, and humiliatingly, even his uniform. standing there in borrowed clothes in that tiny room, holtzclaw calls his girlfriend. >> hey, baby. babe, i need to -- i need to tell you what's going on. it's crazy. >> reporter: you've just witnessed the end of daniel holtzclaw's short career in law enforcement. >> hey, uh, until this investigation gets all completed with what's going on, we're going to put you on administrative leave with pay, okay? >> okay. >> reporter: not only is he no longer working for the police, now the police are working against him. when we come back, we'll meet the woman from that nightmare traffic stop. >> he just picked the wrong lady to stop that night. >> reporter: and later, the invisible evidence found on holtzclaw's uniform, the pivotal clue detectives find on those confiscated pants. >> was that a smoking gun, in a sense? >> reporter: stay with us.

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"20/20" continues with what the dash cam never saw. >> reporter: in the heart of tornado alley in 2014, oklahoma has an easy year, less than 20 twisters. but in oklahoma city, the police department is getting slammed with a manmade disaster. >> oklahoma city police confirm they are investigating this claim. >> reporter: the force rocked by allegations against one of its

own. officer daniel holtzclaw is preying on those he is sworn to serve and protect. but now he's the one being pursued by sex crimes detective kim davis, and it is personal. >> for someone to use the badge and the gun to just do the most demeaning thing to a human being, it's infuriating. it was my main focus. i -- i was gonna put him in prison. >> reporter: the alleged victim, oklahoma city native jannie ligons. she runs a day care center, is 57 years old, a mother of four and a grandmother of 12. >> i looked at my rearview mirror, and i noticed those lights and it was a police car. >> reporter: she recalls the night she was pulled over along a section of 50th street. the officer told her she was driving erratically. >> i opened the door he came to my car and said i stopped you because you were swerving. >> reporter: he starts questioning her about a cup of kool-aid seen in this police photo, and whether she's been

drinking. she says she had not. but when the cop starts searching her, ligons says the traffic stop gets weird, and scary. she says he orders her to expose herself. >> and i'm like, "what? you want me to take my pants down?" then he was like, "yes." i said, "oh, no sir." i said, "you're not supposed to do that, sir." >> reporter: ligons says holtzclaw then forced her to commit a sex act on him as he stood by the open rear door of his police car. >> she was scared to death she was gonna die. she didn't look at his face. she didn't look at his nametag. she said all she could stare at was his gun. >> reporter: in his police interview, holtzclaw acknowledges ligons was afraid of him. >> did she ever ask you if you were going to shoot her? >> she did. she was talking about pistol all the time and talking about guns and whatnot. and i'm like, "calm down. i'm not. i'm not going to shoot you or anything like that." >> did she think you were going to shoot her? >> maybe. >> it's disgusting, and this is my mother, who is a grandmother. >> reporter: ligons' daughter, latoya riffa, sat by her mother's side during our

interview. >> and he assumed that he could do this because there's no way she's gonna report him, there's no way nobody's going to believe her. >> reporter: and did he say anything? >> he just backed up and he zipped his pants up and he moved back and i just got out of his police car and walked towards my car thinking he was gonna shoot me in the back. he let me live to tell the story. big, big mistake. >> reporter: two hours later, encouraged by her family, ligons reports the assault to the police. >> if i could have went and found him myself, i would have gladly done so. >> reporter: do you want to take a moment? are you okay? >> no, i'm fine. >> reporter: did you believe her? >> yes, i did. there was no motive for her to make this up. >> reporter: detectives scour holtzclaw's car for evidence, finding little more than fast food wrappers, muscle supplements, and a justin timberlake cd. but, when they examine holtzclaw's uniform, hoping to find jannie liggons dna, they get a shock.

they find dna all right, but it's not hers, and it's not from holtzclaw's girlfriend either. >> there was unknown dna, female dna on the inside of his pants. >> reporter: detectives now deduce two things, the unknown dna may be another victim, and holtzclaw, a serial predator, the hunt begins for a match to the mystery dna. >> we weren't gonna stop till we found it. juries today want dna because everybody watches "csi." >> reporter: everybody wants the dna moment. >> right. >> reporter: they begin checking the records of holtzclaw's encounters with other women on his beat. >> i think we hand-searched six paper boxes full of those, trying to find everybody he ran. >> so that's, like, thousands of names, is my assumption. >> oh, thousands, thousands. and then, we just made a list of black females, that he stopped and ran, and started going door to door. >> reporter: behind those closed doors, and as the investigation widens, just what they feared, they find more women who say they too were attacked by a cop. and when the story leaks -- >> an officer has been placed on

administrative leave. >> reporter: still more women come forward. take the case of 22-year-old shardayreon hill who was handcuffed to this hospital bed high on drugs after an arrest when she says she was sexually assaulted. >> i didn't know what to think. i was scared, because i was just like, "this is a police officer." i didn't know what to do, and then i'm handcuffed to the bed, so i'm just like -- >> reporter: you're powerless. >> yes. i'm in his custody. i don't know what he might do next, so i just didn't even say nothing. >> reporter: and then there's carla raines, a 45-year-old mother of two, who says she was forced to expose herself by an officer supposedly checking for drugs or weapons. >> so it just got to the point to where i raised up my shirt. okay, can i go now? can you let me go? >> reporter: why didn't you report it? >> i didn't think that anything would happen.

>> reporter: and when police track down this woman, 39-year-old sherry ellis, she tells a now familiar story. she was walking down highland drive when she was stopped by a cop in a squad car. >> and that's when he started doing things that he shouldn't be doing. >> reporter: what kind of things did he do? >> he was -- when he searched me, he searched under my clothes. he patted me down up under my clothes. >> reporter: ellis says the officer ran her name and found she had an arrest warrant and multiple unpaid fines. >> and he's, like, "well, okay. what do you think we need to do about this, miss ellis?" and i said, "i don't know. are you gonna take me to jail?" and i was looking down because i was saying in the back of my mind, "oh, my god. i'm going to jail, you know." and when i looked up -- >> reporter: when she looked up, she says the officer forced himself on her. but her ordeal wouldn't end there. afterward, she says he drove her to this abandoned school yard. >> he drove me to -- um. he drove me to a school.

and outside of the school in the back, and me just opened the door and told me to get out and pull my pants down. and -- >> reporter: and allegedly assaulted her again. >> and then, it was over, he said i was free to go. >> reporter: now police are connecting all those cases. the women, african-american and mostly middle-aged, and that young all american, clean cut cop, daniel holtzclaw, an officer allegedly leading a double life on the night shift. two months after his interrogation, he is arrested in the parking lot outside his gym. >> a police officer arrested officer daniel hotlzclaw tonight after several women coming forward claiming to be his victims. >> reporter: they have holtzclaw, they have a growing list of accusers, but there's a problem. not one of the women is a match to that critical clue, the mystery female dna found on the uniform.

>> we kept going and kept searching, because we had to find a match. >> reporter: when we come back, something else that's not adding up. is it possible police are chasing the wrong man? your description doesn't match daniel holtzclaw. stay with us. thank you speech oh-my-gosh. so many people to thank. mom... dad... david... my kids, watching this at home - you should be asleep right now! pause for laughter. ah, okay, they're playing me off. thank you so much! i'll be a lot more natural. ♪ whitening toothpastes i think dentists don't like to recommend to their patients with sensitivity because they may be more abrasive. what makes sensodyne true white different is it's a low abrasive toothpaste. sensodyne true white will be an opportunity for them to make a recommendation to treat sensitivity first and foremost for those patients,

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>> "20/20" continues with what the dash cam never saw. why in the world would she make this up? >> i don 't know. i was -- she was cooperative. she was nervous. >> you know what, if this is a bunch of false allegations then, i want it cleared up too. >> right. >> reporter: from that claustrophobic interrogation room, where officer daniel holtzclaw insisted on his

innocence to the urban oklahoma city neighborhood called the northeast, detective kim davis and her colleagues were working furiously to investigate a ballooning number of sexual assault allegations against the policeman. 3, 6, 12, and finally 13 women. >> reporter: what was the pattern of behavior when he would stop a woman, a potential victim? >> he would check their background first, and if it was convictions, drug use, prostitution, then he would target them. he would say, "well, i need to search you. i need to make sure you don't have" -- and it would kinda start from there. >> reporter: as holtzclaw begins preparing a defense, his family hires private investigator brian bates. >> i can confidently say, daniel did not do the things he was charged with. >> reporter: bates is a well-known in oklahoma city as a video vigilante for posting videos of prostitutes and their customers caught in the act.

>> hey, debbie. >> what are you doing? >> running off prostitution going on. >> reporter: he says because nearly all holtzclaw's alleged victims have a history of drug abuse, prostitution, or outstanding warrants, they're not to be believed. >> we're dealing with a lot of people that their entire life is spent committing crime. it's just a simple fact. lying is second nature to committing these crime. >> reporter: so i know that you have a criminal record? >> yeah, but i don't really wanna talk about that. >> reporter: you don't wanna talk about it. >> huh-uh. >> you know, they're the perfect victim. nobody's gonna believe 'em. if you believe 'em, who cares? they're prostitutes. a prostitute can't be raped. yes, they can. yes, they can. so that's why he was picking these kinda women. because that's the perfect victim. >> reporter: perfect victims, but far from perfect witnesses. the holtzclaw private eye, brian bates, plays me several police interviews he says prove the women are not credible. remember carla raines, the woman who says she was forced to expose herself? in her police interview, at first, she repeatedly denies she's a victim at all.

>> have you ever come to any contact where an officer as been inappropriate? >> no. >> you ever had to expose yourself to him? >> no. >> five times, she says she's not a victim. >> reporter: another alleged victim can't pick holtzclaw out of a lineup. >> that's him. >> okay. >> i think. >> okay, well let me -- >> oh, wait. i've got several photographs to show you, so. >> i don't know. i'm not really sure. >> reporter: she couldn't identify holtzclaw in a photo lineup. >> right. they don't look at their face. >> reporter: perhaps the most bewildering inconsistency -- holtzclaw is 6'2" with white and japanese parents. but sherry ellis tells detectives the man who assaulted her in a school yard was a short black man. >> tell me your description of him. >> he's black. he's -- >> okay, he's a black male. >> muscular. >> muscular. is he taller than you or shorter than you? >> he was like right here, maybe, like that.

>> so you think he's shorter than you. >> yeah. >> reporter: you describe him as being like this to you? >> right. >> reporter: and you're about 5'10"? >> 5'11". >> reporter: 5'11"? because daniel holtzclaw's like 6'2". >> see. i still didn't know that. >> reporter: that's kind of a big difference right? >> i really didn't pay any attention. i really didn't. i just know what was being done to me. >> reporter: does this trouble you at all, that the descriptions are so far off? >> no. can you imagine going through that trauma, and then trying to remember how tall he was, how much he weighed, what did he look like when you're being sexually assaulted? you know, that's the last thing on your mind. >> reporter: among their many other problems, most of the 13 accusers never reported the sexual assaults. why do you think all the other women stayed silent? >> because their lifestyle. and their relationship with the police department. >> reporter: but one woman did not stay silent. remember jannie ligons? daycare worker and grandmother? she went to police right away

within hours. how did she describe the attacker? >> she said that he was big. muscle body-builder big. she thought he had blond hair. once he started doing the things he was doing, she was afraid to look at his face, and she was afraid to look at his nametag. because she thought if he saw -- if he saw her doing that, that he would kill her. >> reporter: she may have gotten the hair color wrong, but the not the color of his car. she describes an all-black squad car which turns out to be an important detail. >> at that time, we were in the process of converting over to all-black. most of our cars were still black and white. >> reporter: one of the few officers driving a solid black car at the time -- daniel holtzclaw. so in your mind, she was credible? >> yes. >> reporter: but what about his credibility. when we come back -- we'll hear what the former all american athlete has to say for himself. >> i want people to hear from me. >> reporter: our interview with the disgraced police officer daniel holtzclaw, next. where have you been?

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> "20/20" continues with what the dash cam never saw. >> reporter: if the allegations against former oklahoma city police officer daniel holtzclaw are true, he is a serial sex offender, a predator who used his power and position to prey on women. and this is with his patrol car? >> yeah, he was very proud. >> reporter: but that is not how his family sees it. >> there is no way. there's not a fiber in my body that believes he did it. >> reporter: in his boyhood home, in enid, oklahoma, he's still the hero with his own personal hall of fame in a corner of the living room. his biggest fans, his parents and sister jenny. >> he's such a loving brother.

he has such a big heart. >> reporter: to them, he is forever the pistol packing birthday boy, the perfect prom date, anything but the prime suspect in a series of notorious crimes that revolted the country. >> officer, do you have anything to say? >> reporter: what's it like watching your son be portrayed as a monster, a serial rapist, a predator? >> it's very hard. he's just like you and me. he's just a man. and he's not the villain that they portrayed him as. >> reporter: to fund their son's defense, the holtzclaws say they have emptied bank accounts, and asked for donations. eric holtzclaw has indefinitely delayed plans to retire. hello? >> will you take a call from an inmate a correctional facility? >> hello? >> reporter: on a scratchy phone line from behind bars, it's daniel holtzclaw.

the object of so much public scrutiny and scorn about to speak publically for the first time. daniel holtzclaw had told "20/20" he wanted to talk on-camera, but authorities will not allow it, they said for his own safety. what made you want to talk to us? >> i want people to hear from me. i want to hear 'em from my voice, how do i, you know, respond to these questions so they could see the truth. i have nothing to hide. >> reporter: you say you're not guilty. you're telling me you never raped any of those women? >> absolutely. >> reporter: have you ever sexually assaulted any woman? >> i have never sexually assaulted anyone. >> reporter: holtzclaw says not only did he not commit these crimes, there were no crimes. he insists the women all 13 of them are lying. he claims none of them were sexually assaulted by anyone. why would 13 women lie? >> detectives approached these women and said, "we have a tip that you've been sexually assaulted by an oklahoma city police officer. giving them a lottery ticket to say yes.

>> they went out and sought these people and planted in their idea the idea that, "oh, we're investigating this officer that we think may have assaulted you." >> reporter: could it be that you reverse-engineered the investigations? and to, you know, put the power of suggestion into some of these potential victims' heads? >> you could do that. i mean, i guess, but i didn't. >> reporter: in our interview, holztclaw freely admitted that he have interactions with all of the women. but he wasn't crimes, he says, he was trying to them. develop sources, locate drug houses, and help some of the women straighten up. why were you putting these women in the back of your car? because investigators say that's not only bad police work, but it's dangerous. >> that's good police work. you can run warrant searches, you can talk to them, you can find intel based on what their stories are and see if they matched up. >> reporter: police also point out that holtzclaw violated protocol one of those traffic stops after holtzclaw allegedly assaulted shardayreon

hill, he actually friended her on facebook. these are some of his messages. "making sure you're doing ok and staying out of trouble," reads one message. and on at least five occasions he asks her to call him. >> we don't facebook friend people we put in jail. that's just stupid. >> reporter: but when his girlfriend heard about that later, even she wondered about that. did you think it was weird that he facebook friended one of the women? >> that was one thing i did struggle with. and i came to him and i asked him, you know, "why would you do that?" and he said he was just trying to help her i was just trying to be a good guy and make sure she was okay, i was worried about >> reporter: but it's not just that you facebook friended her, you went to her house in your personal car. why would you do that? >> basically just check up on her, make sure she's okay, that's it. and like i said, i should have not done that. i was wrong. i did not do anything to her. i did not come on to her. >> reporter: that is not what shardayreon says. >> when he got there, he was trying to get me to have sex with him. >> reporter: police continue hunting for the most incriminating evidence of all that elusive mystery victim, the dna from holtzclaw's uniform pants. kim davis and other detectives

search through records of every person holtzclaw had checked for outstanding warrants. so it was gumshoe detective work. >> yeah, it was just hitting the streets. putting on our tennis shoes and going. >> reporter: and then the tennis shoe detective work pays off. kim davis locates a girl who may be the most important witness of all, a 17-year-old holtzclaw had given a ride home just hours before pulling over jannie ligons. the 17-year-old tells police holtzclaw assaulted her too. >> he started like touching me like this, and he put his hands up under my clothes, and he started feeling on me. >> did he say anything then? >> he was like, "well, you know you got warrants, and i don't want, i don't want to have to take you to jail today so this is what you're going to have to do." >> reporter: davis then swabs the teen's mouth collecting a dna sample. >> to compare to any dna that we've got on his clothing. >> reporter: they send it off to the lab and bingo it's a match. confirming that her skin cells

were found inside the fly of holtzclaw's pants. he says there is an innocent explanation. he may have picked up the girl's dna searching her and then transferred it to his pants during a bathroom break. but the police are certain that dna is going to put him away. when you got that dna match, what went through your head? >> well, i said i was gonna do a back flip off my file cabinet. but i didn't. oh, i was just ecstatic. because that was the dna moment. >> reporter: when we come back, the high stakes holtzclaw case comes to court. >> everybody's got to leave the floor. >> reporter: and oklahoma city braces for a storm. truth and justice. >> it's important to note that the officer was a white officer. >> reporter: black and white. >> and the only things black in the courtroom was the 13 black women and the judge's robe. >> reporter: watch what happens, next. kale, kale kale. carrots mm...

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>> "20/20" continues with what the dash cam never saw. >> reporter: the trial begins in the serial sual assault case against oklahoma city police officer daniel hotlzclaw. >> coming to us from oklahoma. >> former police officer -- >> daniel holtzclaw. >> reporter: half the world is watching, and the other half, it would appear, trying to get a good seat in the courthouse. >> here is what's going on right now. about 100 people cramming, elbowing, and pushing their way into the courtroom. >> everybody's got to leave the floor, go in the library. >> reporter: the former officer facing 36 counts of sex crimes against 13 women, carrying a term of several life sentences.

>> we believe you! >> we believe you! >> reporter: outside the courthouse, protests. sometimes so loud juror dan speaks says everyone inside the courthouse could hear them. >> at one point the judge delayed the hearing, and told us to basically ignore it. >> we have problem with african americans and the police. >> it's important to note the officer was a white officer. >> reporter: in the wake of the recent protests in ferguson, missouri, and the black lives matter movement, the racial overtones in the case are only heightened when the jury is selected. >> consisting of 8 men, 4 women. all of them white. >> reporter: they're all white. >> you started to get concerned. here we go again, here we go again, you had an all-white jury and the only things black in the courtroom was the 13 black women and the judge's robe.

>> reporter: can you hear me? >> yeah. >> reporter: holtzclaw tells me his theory on the phone, that the police department manufactured a case against him to satisfy the public outcry. >> we want life. 36 counts! >> reporter: why do you think that police intentionally railroaded you? >> if they didn't convict me, there would be the next ferguson deal happening in oklahoma city. >> so far, we have heard from 3 of the alleged victims, but there are still 10 more that we haven't heard from. >> reporter: as expected, holtzclaw's defense attorney scott adams attacks the credibility of the 13 accusers. some of the women were in jail on other charges during the trial, and testified in their orange jumpsuits. some changed their stories. and then there was the one who came to court to testify high on drugs. >> we know that she tested positive for pcp and other drugs. >> he knew this. he patrolled those streets, day-in, day-out. >> he knew they might not stand up in a court of law. >> he knew they would not stand up in a court of law, and that's what he was banking on.

>> reporter: how difficult is it to mount a case where you have witnesses showing up high on pcp? you have witnesses with a history of lying to the police. these are not easy witnesses to put on the stand. >> no, it was horrible. and plus, it gives the defense just a million things to attack. >> reporter: but the first woman detective kim davis interviewed, the grandmother jannie ligons, was not like the others. no long criminal history, no record of addiction or prostitution. let me ask you about jannie ligons. she immediately reported the event after it occurred. why would she make that up? >> let's get the factual facts out there. she's not innocent the way people think she is. she had a bust in the '80s. but we couldn't present that to the jury. >> yeah, but how does a 30-year-old drug bust, how is that relevant to a rape case? >> it's credibility. it's her credibility. this is not a woman that's, you know, a soccer mom or someone that's credible in society.

>> reporter: jannie ligons says she wasn't even charged in that arrest in the '80s, and she's never been in trouble since. >> the thing is he's been stopping a lot of prostitutes and drug users, and i guess apparently he thought i was one of them but big, big mistake. he just stopped the wrong lady that night. >> reporter: he stopped the wrong lady that night. >> exactly. >> reporter: before the trial is even over, well known civil rights attorney benjamin crump is already planning the next case. >> i will be representing them in civil litigation for them to get whole justice. >> reporter: lawsuits on behalf of the alleged victims. >> even before the trial ended, they all lined up. they all were looking for the money trail on this. >> the detectives were approaching these women, saying, you know, basically giving them a lottery ticket, and all you had to do was just say yes. >> reporter: what do you mean by, they handed them a lottery ticket? >> because all they have to do is go throughout the court case, cooperate, go on the stand, and then now they're gonna be, you know, billionaires for something, you know, that i

didn't do. >> reporter: the defense called only one witness, holtzclaw's girlfriend. >> why would he do it with these people, you know? if he wanted to go out and sleep around with people, he could go find people on the north side or people where he's from. it just doesn't make sense. >> because it's not about sex. it's about power and control. it's all about, "look what i can do to you, and you can't do anything about it." >> reporter: the trial runs six weeks. as the jury goes into deliberations -- >> the jurors have been told to make arrangements today for a possible sequestering. >> reporter: the holtzclaw team is feeling confident. >> we had good feelings in our hearts that he was going to be acquitted. >> reporter: coming up, his friends and family believe him, but what are those jurors thinking? >> he didn't look like the monster that some people were saying he was. >> reporter: marathon deliberations. >> my heart just dropped and i got nervous. i just started crying. >> reporter: she's not the only one. look at holtzclaw, and this is before the verdict.

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brought us together for a purpose. >> reporter: juror dan speaks says for all the talk of race and the threat of riots outside the jury room, it did not come up inside. he says at first, a number of them were ready to set daniel holtzclaw free. they just didn't believe some of those women. >> there was some jurors that, due to the fact that who these victims were had a hard time believing -- believing them. >> for the last five weeks, daniel holtzclaw has walked into this courtroom, and his face has remained expressionless. >> reporter: finally, the jury returns. they have verdicts on all 36 counts. the judge silently scans each page of the jury form. daniel holtzclaw is visibly shaking in his boots, seemingly paralyzed with fear, despite claiming he anticipated a favorable outcome. were you convinced that they were gonna find you not guilty? >> i absolutely 100%, all in my heart, within my family, within everyone that was on my side,

they all said, "there was no way that you should be convicted." >> reporter: and then, the judge begins to read out daniel holtzclaw's fate. >> the defendant is guilty of the crime of sexual battery and set punishment at eight years. the defendant is guilty of the crime of procuring lewd exhibition and punishment is set at five years. the defendant is guilty of the crime of forcible oral sodomy and punishment is set at 20 years. >> reporter: and as the guiltys pile up, physically pushing down on daniel holtzclaw, the powerful former football star, the aggressive rookie cop, collapsing before the eyes of the courtroom. >> the defendant is guilty of the crime of rape in the first degree and punishment is set at 30 years. >> reporter: his family, stunned. >> his tearful reaction to the verdict made some people think, "oh, well, that's -- those are tears of an innocent man." >> no, those are tears of a man that got caught, and he's not remorseful. he's just sad that he got caught and he's being punished. >> the defendant is not guilty

of the crime of procuring lewd exhibition. >> reporter: but the jury did have doubts, finding holtzclaw not guilty on 18 counts, fully half the charges against him, including the allegations involving carla raines, shardayreon hill, and three other women. even so, holtzclaw is sentenced to 263 years behind bars. he makes eye contact with the jurors sending him to prison for the rest of his life, something he calls a slow death sentence. he has a message for them. >> i looked at them. i looked in every single one at their eyes and i told them, "i did not do this." >> reporter: holtzclaw's last day of freedom falls on, of all days, his 29th birthday. in the halls of the courthouse, gleeful supporters of his victims celebrate with a sarcastic serenade. ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: the woman who did more than anyone to make this day happen, sex crimes detective

kim davis, says she will never forget the other woman, jannie ligons. jannie ligons says you're a hero. >> no, i just did my job. she's the hero for coming forward. if she wouldn't have come forward, i don't know where we'd be today. >> daniel holtzclaw has now filed his appeal to appeal the conviction and 12 accusers have filed civil suits against holtzclaw and oklahoma city. >> so the question tonight, if you were on the jury, how would you have voted? use the #abc2020. >> tune in tomorrow for "20/20" saturday. i'm david muir. >> i'm elizabeth vargas. from all of us, have a great night and a great weekend.

wind and flames are always a dangerous combination. >> next, a live report from a neighborhood dealing with a crisis.