With jury selection completed early this week, the trial for a former Oklahoma City police officer accused of sexually assaulting 13 women--including a 17-year-old girl--is underway.

Daniel Ken Holtzclaw, 28, was a police officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department's Springlake division when he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a traffic stop. After the woman reported the incident, several other women came forward with allegations against the police officer. At least one of those allegations was dismissed after a woman confessed that she made up the allegations in order to "help" the investigation against him.

Holtzclaw is accused of stopping the women in traffic stops or as they were walking through areas in his patrol. In most cases, Holtzclaw is accused of raping and sexually assaulting women who would be unlikely to report him: those with criminal backgrounds and substance abuse issues. In several instances, the officer is accused of forcing or coercing sexual activity under threat of arrest. 

Since his arrest, the former police officer has been charged with dozens of crimes: 36 counts including first degree rape, second degree rape, sexual battery, indecent exposure, forcible oral sodomy, procuring lewd exhibition, first degree burglary, and stalking.

In only one case--that of the 17-year-old--was DNA from an alleged victim found on the defendant. Holtzclaw's attorney argued that it was transfer DNA which ended up in his pants when the officer used the restroom following a non-sexual encounter with the teen.

The defense argues that the women accusing Holtzclaw are not credible witnesses, referencing their criminal records and pointing out that eight of the accusers have filed lawsuits against the city. Although early reports indicated that the officer "slipped up" when he assaulted an innocent woman with no criminal record, the former police officer's defense attorney says that the woman "had smoked marijuana and used pain medication just before her encounter with the officer." The woman, whom Holtzclaw pulled over on suspicion of DUI, admitted that she had taken a hit of marijuana before the traffic stop, but counters that she was not high or under the influence of drugs when he pulled her over.

Regardless of whether or not a person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or whether he or she had just committed a crime, a law enforcement officer may not engage in sexual activity with a person he or she stops in the line of duty. Using the badge or the threat of arrest to coerce sexual activity is a crime. Likewise, an officer must also resist offers of sexual favors to influence the performance of his or her duties as a law officer.

The outcome of the case should be interesting as a jury decides whether the defendant is a serial sex offender hiding behind a badge or whether he is a victim of false accusations by those with a vendetta and an agenda.