title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On January 31, 2013, the Senate of Virginia passed a bill repealing § 18.2-345, the lewd and lascivious cohabitation statute enacted in 1877. On February 20, 2013, the Virginia House of Delegates passed the bill by a vote of 62 to 25 votes. On March 20, 2013, Governor Bob McDonnell signed the repeal of the lewd and lascivious cohabitation statute from the Code of Virginia.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On March 12, 2013, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down § 18.2-361, the crimes against nature statute. On March 26, 2013, Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli filed a petition to have the case reheard "en banc", but the Court denied the request on April 10, 2013, with none of its 15 judges supporting the request. On June 25, Cuccinelli filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision, which was rejected on October 7.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On February 7, 2014, the Virginia Senate voted 40-0 in favor of revising the crimes against nature statue to remove the ban on same-sex sexual relationships. On March 6, 2014, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 100-0 in favor of the bill. On April 7, the Governor submitted slightly different version of the bill. It was enacted by the Legislature on April 23, 2014. The law took effect upon passage.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: In April 2014, a proposed Louisiana bill sought to revise the state's crime against nature law, maintaining the existing prohibition against sodomy during the commission of rape and child sex abuse, and against sex with animals, but removing the unconstitutional prohibition against sex between consenting adults. The bill was defeated on April 15, 2014 by a vote of 66 to 27.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: Utah voted to revise its sodomy laws to include only forcible sodomy and sodomy on children rather than any sexual relations between consenting adults on February 26, 2019. Governor Gary Herbert signed the bill into law on March 26, 2019.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On May 23, 2019, the Alabama House of Representatives passed, with 101 voting yea and 3 absent, Alabama Senate Bill 320, which repeals the ban on "deviate sexual intercourse". On May 28, 2019, the Alabama State Senate passed Alabama Senate Bill 320, with 32 yea and 3 absent. The bill took effect on September 1, 2019.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: Idaho repealed its sodomy law in March 2022. The repeal was a result of a lawsuit brought on in September 2020 by a plaintiff known as John Doe. John Doe alleged his constitutional rights were violated when he was forced to register as a sex offender upon moving to Idaho due to a conviction for "oral sex" two decades prior.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: As of April 1, 2022, 14 states either have not yet formally repealed their laws against sexual activity among consenting adults or have not revised them to accurately reflect their true scope in the aftermath of "Lawrence v. Texas". Often, the sodomy law was drafted to also encompass other forms of sexual conduct such as bestiality, and no attempt has subsequently succeeded in separating them. Eleven states' statutes purport to ban all forms of sodomy, some including oral intercourse, regardless of the participants' genders: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Three states specifically target their statutes at same-sex relations only: Kansas, Kentucky, and Texas.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: Sodomy laws in the United States were largely a matter of state rather than federal jurisdiction, except for laws governing the District of Columbia and the U.S. Armed Forces.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: In 1801, the United States Congress enacted the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, a law that continued all criminal laws of Maryland and Virginia, with those of Maryland applying to the portion of the District ceded from Maryland and those of Virginia applying to the portion ceded from Virginia. As a result, in the Maryland-ceded portion, sodomy was punishable with up to seven years' imprisonment for free persons and with the death penalty for enslaved persons, whereas in the Virginia-ceded portion it was punishable between one and ten years' imprisonment for free persons and with the death penalty for enslaved persons. Maryland repealed the death penalty for slaves in 1809 and modified the penalty for all persons to match Virginia's terms of imprisonment. In 1847, the Virginia-ceded portion was given back to Virginia, thus only the Maryland law had effect in the district.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: In 1871, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, a law that reorganized the district government and granted it home rule. All existing laws were retained unless and until expressly altered by the new city council. Direct rule was reinstated in 1874. The criminal status of sodomy became ambiguous until 1901, when Congress passed legislation recognizing common law crimes, punishable with up to five years' imprisonment and/or a fine of $1,000.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: In 1935, Congress made it a crime in the district to solicit a person "for the purpose of prostitution, or any other immoral or lewd purpose". In 1948, Congress enacted the first law specific to sodomy in the district, which established a penalty of up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to $1,000, regardless of sexuality. Oral sex was included in the law's application. Also included with this law was a psychopathic offender law and a law "to provide for the treatment of sexual psychopaths". The metropolitan police department eventually had several officers whose sole job was to "check on homosexuals". Multiple court cases dealt with the issue in the following years. Many of the published sodomy and solicitation cases during the 1950s and 1960s reveal clear entrapment policies by the local police, some of which were disallowed by reviewing courts. In 1972, settling the case of "Schaefers et al. v. Wilson", the D.C. government announced its intention not to prosecute anyone for private, consensual adult sodomy, an action disputed by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The action came as part of a stipulation agreement in a court challenge to the sodomy law brought by four gay men.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: In 1973, Congress again granted the district home rule through the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. It provided for a new city council that could pass its own laws. However laws regarding certain topics, such as changes to the criminal code, were restricted until 1977. All laws passed by the D.C. government are subject to a mandatory 30-day "congressional review" by Congress. If they are not blocked, then they become law. In 1981, the D.C. government enacted a law that repealed the sodomy law, as well as other consensual acts, and made the sexual assault laws gender neutral. However, the Congress overturned the new law. A successful legislative repeal of the law followed in 1993. This time, Congress did not interfere. In 1995, all references to sodomy were completely removed from the criminal code, and in 2004, the D.C. government repealed an outdated law against fornication.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: Although the U.S. military discharged soldiers for homosexual acts throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century, U.S. military law did not expressly prohibit homosexuality or homosexual conduct until February 4, 1921.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On March 1, 1917, the Articles of War of 1916 were implemented. This included a revision of the Articles of War of 1806, the new regulations detail statutes governing U.S. military discipline and justice. Under the category Miscellaneous Crimes and Offences, Article 93 states that any person subject to military law who commits "assault with intent to commit sodomy" shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On June 4, 1920, Congress modified Article 93 of the Articles of War of 1916. It was changed to make the act of sodomy itself a crime, separate from the offense of assault with intent to commit sodomy. It went into effect on February 4, 1921.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On May 5, 1950, the Uniform Code of Military Justice was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, and became effective on May 31, 1951. Article 125 forbids sodomy among all military personnel, defining it as "any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offence."


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: As for the U.S. Armed Forces, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has ruled that the "Lawrence v. Texas" decision applies to Article 125, severely narrowing the previous ban on sodomy. In both "United States v. Stirewalt" and "United States v. Marcum", the court ruled that the "conduct [consensual sodomy] falls within the liberty interest identified by the Supreme Court," but went on to say that despite the application of "Lawrence" to the military, Article 125 can still be upheld in cases where there are "factors unique to the military environment" that would place the conduct "outside any protected liberty interest recognized in "Lawrence"." Examples of such factors include rape, fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. Convictions for consensual sodomy have been overturned in military courts under "Lawrence" in both "United States v. Meno" and "United States v. Bullock".


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: On December 26, 2013, President Barack Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which repealed the ban on consensual sodomy found in Article 125.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: Below is a table of sodomy laws and penalties in U.S. states and territories prior to their invalidation in 2003.


title: Sodomy laws in the United States

text: The table indicates which acts or groups were covered under each sodomy law, as pertaining to consenting adults. It also indicates the year and method of repeal or strikedown.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The urinary bladder, or simply bladder, is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination. In humans the bladder is a distensible organ that sits on the pelvic floor. Urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra. The typical adult human bladder will hold between 300 and (10.14 and ) before the urge to empty occurs, but can hold considerably more.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The Latin phrase for "urinary bladder" is "vesica urinaria", and the term "vesical" or prefix "vesico -" appear in connection with associated structures such as vesical veins. The modern Latin word for "bladder" – "cystis" – appears in associated terms such as cystitis (inflammation of the bladder).


title: Urinary bladder

text: In humans, the bladder is a hollow muscular organ situated at the base of the pelvis. In gross anatomy, the bladder can be divided into a broad , a body, an apex, and a neck. The apex (also called the vertex) is directed forward toward the upper part of the pubic symphysis, and from there the median umbilical ligament continues upward on the back of the anterior abdominal wall to the umbilicus. The peritoneum is carried by it from the apex on to the abdominal wall to form the middle umbilical fold. The neck of the bladder is the area at the base of the trigone that surrounds the internal urethral orifice that leads to the urethra. In males the neck of the urinary bladder is next to the prostate gland.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The bladder has three openings. The two ureters enter the bladder at ureteric orifices, and the urethra enters at the trigone of the bladder. These ureteric openings have mucosal flaps in front of them that act as valves in preventing the backflow of urine into the ureters, known as vesicoureteral reflux. Between the two ureteric openings is a raised area of tissue called the interureteric crest. This makes the upper boundary of the trigone. The trigone is an area of smooth muscle that forms the floor of the bladder above the urethra. It is an area of smooth tissue for the easy flow of urine into and from this part of the bladder - in contrast to the irregular surface formed by the rugae.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The walls of the bladder have a series of ridges, thick mucosal folds known as rugae that allow for the expansion of the bladder. The detrusor muscle is the muscular layer of the wall made of smooth muscle fibers arranged in spiral, longitudinal, and circular bundles. The detrusor muscle is able to change its length. It can also contract for a long time whilst voiding, and it stays relaxed whilst the bladder is filling. The wall of the urinary bladder is normally 3–5 mm thick. When well distended, the wall is normally less than 3 mm.


title: Urinary bladder

text: In men, the prostate gland lies outside the opening for the urethra. The middle lobe of the prostate causes an elevation in the mucous membrane behind the internal urethral orifice called the uvula of urinary bladder. The uvula can enlarge when the prostate becomes enlarged.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The bladder is located below the peritoneal cavity near the pelvic floor and behind the pubic symphysis. In men, it lies in front of the rectum, separated by the recto-vesical pouch, and is supported by fibres of the levator ani and of the prostate gland. In women, it lies in front of the uterus, separated by the vesico-uterine pouch, and is supported by the elevator ani and the upper part of the vagina.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The bladder receives blood by the vesical arteries and drained into a network of vesical veins. The superior vesical artery supplies blood to the upper part of the bladder. The lower part of the bladder is supplied by the inferior vesical artery, both of which are branches of the internal iliac arteries. In females, the uterine and vaginal arteries provide additional blood supply. Venous drainage begins in a network of small vessels on the lower surfaces of the bladder, which coalesce and travel with the lateral ligaments of the bladder into the internal iliac veins.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The lymph drained from the bladder begins in a series of networks throughout the mucosal, muscular and serosal layers. These then form three sets of vessels: one set near the trigone draining the bottom of the bladder; one set draining the top of the bladder; and another set draining the outer undersurface of the bladder. The majority of these vessels drain into the external iliac lymph nodes.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The bladder receives both sensory and motor supply from sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. The motor supply from both sympathetic fibers, most of which arise from the superior and inferior hypogastric plexuses and nerves, and from parasympathetic fibers, which come from the pelvic splanchnic nerves.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Sensation from the bladder, relating to distension or to irritation (such as by infection or a stone) is transmitted primarily through the parasympathetic nervous system. These travel via sacral nerves to S2-4. From here, sensation travels to the brain via the dorsal columns in the spinal cord.


title: Urinary bladder

text: When viewed under a microscope the bladder can be seen to have an inner lining (called epithelium), three layers of muscle fibres, and an outer adventitia.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The inner wall of the bladder is called urothelium, a type of transitional epithelium formed by three to six layers of cells; the cells may become more cuboidal or flatter depending on whether the bladder is empty or full. Additionally, these are lined with a mucous membrane consisting of a surface glycocalyx that protects the cells beneath it from urine. The epithelium lies on a thin basement membrane, and a lamina propria. The mucosal lining also offers a urothelial barrier against the passing of infections.


title: Urinary bladder

text: These layers are surrounded by three layers of muscle fibres arranged as an inner layer of fibres orientated longitudinally, a middle layer of circular fibres, and an outermost layer of longitudinal fibres; these form the detrusor muscle, which can be seen with the naked eye.


title: Urinary bladder

text: In the developing embryo, at the hind end lies a cloaca. This, over the fourth to the seventh week, divides into a urogenital sinus and the beginnings of the anal canal, with a wall forming between these two inpouchings called the urorectal septum. The urogenital sinus divides into three parts, with the upper and largest part becoming the bladder; the middle part becoming the urethra, and the lower part changes depending on the biological sex of the embryo.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The human urinary bladder derives from the urogenital sinus, and it is initially continuous with the allantois. The upper and lower parts of the bladder develop separately and join together around the middle part of development. At this time the ureters move from the mesonephric ducts to the trigone. In males, the base of the bladder lies between the rectum and the pubic symphysis. It is superior to the prostate, and separated from the rectum by the recto-vesical pouch. In females, the bladder sits inferior to the uterus and anterior to the vagina; thus its maximum capacity is lower than in males. It is separated from the uterus by the vesico-uterine pouch. In infants and young children the urinary bladder is in the abdomen even when empty.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Urine, excreted by the kidneys, collects in the bladder because of drainage from two ureters, before disposal by urination (micturition). Urine leaves the bladder via the urethra, a single muscular tube ending in an opening called the urinary meatus, where it exits the body. Urination involves coordinated muscle changes involving a reflex based in the spine, with higher inputs from the brain. During urination, the detrusor muscle contracts, and the external urinary sphincter and muscles of the perineum relax, allowing urine to pass through the urethra and out of the body.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The urge to pass urine stems from stretch receptors that activate when between 300 - 400 mL urine is held within the bladder. As urine accumulates, the rugae flatten and the wall of the bladder thins as it stretches, allowing the bladder to store larger amounts of urine without a significant rise in internal pressure. Urination is controlled by the pontine micturition center in the brainstem.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Stretch receptors in the bladder signal the parasympathetic nervous system to stimulate the muscarinic receptors in the detrusor to contract the muscle when the bladder is distended. This encourages the bladder to expel urine through the urethra. The main receptor activated is the M3 receptor, although M2 receptors are also involved and whilst outnumbering the M3 receptors they are not so responsive.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The main relaxant pathway is via the adenylyl cyclase cAMP pathway, activated via the β3 adrenergic receptors. The β2 adrenergic receptors are also present in the detrusor and even outnumber β3 receptors, but they do not have as important an effect in relaxing the detrusor smooth muscle.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Cystitis refers to infection or inflammation of the bladder. It commonly occurs as part of a urinary tract infection. In adults, it is more common in women than men, owing to a shorter urethra. It is common in males during childhood, and in older men where an enlarged prostate may cause urinary retention. Other risk factors include other causes of blockage or narrowing, such as prostate cancer or the presence of vesico-ureteric reflux; the presence of outside structures in the urinary tract, such as urinary catheters; and neurologic problems that make passing urine difficult. Infections that involve the bladder can cause pain in the lower abdomen (above the pubic symphysis, so called "suprapubic" pain), particularly before and after passing urine, and a desire to pass urine frequently and with little warning (urinary urgency). Infections are usually due to bacteria, of which the most common is E coli.


title: Urinary bladder

text: When a urinary tract infection or cystitis is suspected, a medical practitioner may request a urine sample. A dipstick placed in the urine may be used to see if the urine has white blood cells, or the presence of nitrates which may indicate an infection. The urine specimen may be also sent for microbial culture and sensitivity to assess if a particular bacteria grows in the urine, and identify its antibiotic sensitivities. Sometimes, additional investigations may be requested. These might include testing the function of the kidneys by assessing electrolytes and creatinine; investigating for blockages or narrowing of the renal tract with a ultrasound, and testing for an enlarged prostate with a digital rectal examination.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Urinary tract infections or cystitis are treated with antibiotics, many of which are consumed by mouth. Serious infections may require treatment with intravenous antibiotics.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Interstitial cystitis refers to a condition in which the bladder is infected due to a cause that is not bacteria.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Frequent urination can be due to excessive urine production, small bladder capacity, irritability or incomplete emptying. Males with an enlarged prostate urinate more frequently. One definition of an overactive bladder is when a person urinates more than eight times per day. An overactive bladder can often cause urinary incontinence. Though both urinary frequency and volumes have been shown to have a circadian rhythm, meaning day and night cycles, it is not entirely clear how these are disturbed in the overactive bladder. Urodynamic testing can help to explain the symptoms. An underactive bladder is the condition where there is a difficulty in passing urine and is the main symptom of a neurogenic bladder. Frequent urination at night may indicate the presence of bladder stones.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Disorders of bladder function may be dealt with surgically, by re-directing the flow of urine or by replacement with an artificial urinary bladder. The volume of the bladder may be increased by bladder augmentation. An obstruction of the bladder neck may be severe enough to warrant surgery.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Cancer of the bladder is known as bladder cancer. It is usually due to cancer of the urothelium, the cells that line the surface of the bladder. Bladder cancer is more common after the age of 40, and more common in men than women; other risk factors include smoking and exposure to dyes such as aromatic amines and aldehydes. When cancer is present, the most common symptom in an affected person is blood in the urine; a physical medical examination may be otherwise normal, except in late disease. Bladder cancer is most often due to cancer of the cells lining the ureter, called transitional cell carcinoma, although it can more rarely occur as a squamous cell carcinoma if the type of cells lining the urethra have changed due to chronic inflammation, such as due to stones or schistosomiasis.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Investigations performed usually include collecting a sample of urine for an inspection for malignant cells under a microscope, called cytology, as well as medical imaging by a CT urogram or ultrasound. If a concerning lesion is seen, a flexible camera may be inserted into the bladder, called cystoscopy, in order to view the lesion and take a biopsy, and a CT scan will be performed of other body parts (a CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis) to look for additional lesions.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Treatment depends on the cancer's stage. Cancer present only in the bladder may be removed surgically via cystoscopy; an injection of the chemotherapeutic mitomycin C may be performed at the same time. Cancers that are high grade may be treated with an injection of the BCG vaccine into the bladder wall, and may require surgical removal if it does not resolve. Cancer that is invading through the bladder wall may be managed by complete surgical removal of the bladder (radical cystectomy), with the ureters diverted into a segment of part of ileum connected to a stoma bag on the skin. Prognosis can vary markedly depending on the cancer's stage and grade, with a better prognosis associated with tumours found only in the bladder, that are low grade, that don't invade through the bladder wall, and that is in visual appearance.


title: Urinary bladder

text: A number of investigations are used to examine the bladder. The investigations that are ordered will depend on the taking of a medical history and an examination. The examination may involve a medical practitioner feeling in the suprapubic area for tenderness or fullness that might indicate an inflamed or full bladder. Blood tests may be ordered that may indicate inflammation; for example a full blood count may demonstrate elevated white blood cells, or a C-reactive protein may be elevated in an infection.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Some forms of medical imaging exist to visualise the bladder. A bladder ultrasound may be conducted to view how much urine is within the bladder, indicating urinary retention. A urinary tract ultrasound, conducted by a more trained operator, may be conducted to view whether there are stones, tumours or sites of obstruction within the bladder and urinary tract. A CT scan may also be ordered.


title: Urinary bladder

text: A flexible internal camera, called a cystoscope, can be inserted to view the internal appearance of the bladder and take a biopsy if required.


title: Urinary bladder

text: All mammals have a urinary bladder. This structure begins as an embryonic cloaca. In the vast majority, this eventually becomes differentiated into a dorsal part connected to the intestine and a ventral part which becomes associated with the urinogenital passage and urinary bladder. The only mammals in which this does not take place are the platypus and the spiny anteater both of which retain the cloaca into adulthood.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The mammalian bladder is an organ that regularly stores a hyperosmotic concentration of urine. It therefore is relatively impermeable and has multiple epithelial layers. The urinary bladder of the cetaceans (whales and dolphins) is proportionally smaller than that of land-dwelling mammals.


title: Urinary bladder

text: In all reptiles, the urinogenital ducts and the anus both empty into an organ called a cloaca. In some reptiles, a midventral wall in the cloaca may open into a urinary bladder, but not all. It is present in all turtles and tortoises as well as most lizards but is lacking in the monitor lizard, the legless lizards. It is absent in the snakes, alligators, and crocodiles.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Many turtles, tortoises, and lizards have proportionally very large bladders. Charles Darwin noted that the Galapagos tortoise had a bladder which could store up to 20% of its body weight. Such adaptations are the result of environments such as remote islands and deserts where water is very scarce. Other desert-dwelling reptiles have large bladders that can store a long-term reservoir of water for up to several months and aid in osmoregulation.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Turtles have two or more accessory urinary bladders, located lateral to the neck of the urinary bladder and dorsal to the pubis, occupying a significant portion of their body cavity. Their bladder is also usually bilobed with a left and right section. The right section is located under the liver, which prevents large stones from remaining in that side while the left section is more likely to have calculi.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Most aquatic and semi-aquatic amphibians have a membranous skin which allows them to absorb water directly through it. Some semi-aquatic animals also have similarly permeable bladder membrane. As a result, they tend to have high rates of urine production to offset this high water intake, and have urine which is low in dissolved salts. The urinary bladder assists such animals to retain salts. Some aquatic amphibian such as "Xenopus" do not reabsorb water, to prevent excessive water influx. For land-dwelling amphibians, dehydration results in reduced urine output.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The amphibian bladder is usually highly distensible and among some land-dwelling species of frogs and salamanders may account for between 20% and 50% of their total body weight.


title: Urinary bladder

text: The gills of most teleost fish help to eliminate ammonia from the body, and fish live surrounded by water, but most still have a distinct bladder for storing waste fluid. The urinary bladder of teleosts is permeable to water, though this is less true for freshwater dwelling species than saltwater species. Most fish also have an organ called a swim-bladder which is unrelated to the urinary bladder except in its membranous nature. The loaches, pilchards, and herrings are among the few types of fish in which a urinary bladder is poorly developed. It is largest in those fish which lack an air bladder, and is situated in front of the oviducts and behind the rectum. The urinary bladders of fish and tetrapods are thought to be analogous while the former's swim-bladders and latter's lungs are considered homologous.


title: Urinary bladder

text: In nearly all bird species, there is no urinary bladder per se. Although all birds have kidneys, the ureters open directly into a cloaca which serves as a reservoir for urine, fecal matter, and eggs.


title: Urinary bladder

text: Unlike the urinary bladder of vertebrates, the urinary bladder of crustaceans both stores and modifies urine. The bladder consists of two sets of lateral and central lobes. The central lobes sit near the digestive organs and the lateral lobes extend along the front and sides of the crustacean's body cavity. The tissue of the bladder is thin epithelium.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving accident with Vince Neil behind the wheel during their first US tour in December 1984. After their initial break-up, Michael Monroe was the first Finnish artist to chart on the American Billboard 200 in 1989. Original vocalist Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy reunited in 2001 with a new lineup that lasted until 2009. Although musically closer to traditional rock n' roll and punk, the band have been cited as a major influence in the glam metal genre for bands such as Guns N' Roses, Skid Row and Poison.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: According to Finnish radio and TV personality Jone Nikula, who was the band's tour manager in the 2000s, Hanoi Rocks's albums have sold between 780,000 and 1,000,000 copies around the world, mostly in Scandinavia and Japan.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The 1982 line-up of the band (Monroe, McCoy, Suicide, Yaffa and Casino) reunited at Monroe's 60 year birthday concert on 23 September 2022 at the Helsinki Ice Hall.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks were formed in Helsinki in 1979 by Michael Monroe (Matti Fagerholm) and his friend, guitarist Andy McCoy (Antti Hulkko). McCoy did not join the band immediately, because he was the guitarist for the Finnish punk band Pelle Miljoona Oy. McCoy allowed Monroe to form the band with an agreement that McCoy would join later.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The original line-up of Hanoi Rocks was Michael Monroe on vocals, former Pelle Miljoona Oy guitarist Stefan Piesnack, Monroe's guitarist Nasty Suicide, bassist Nedo Soininen, and drummer Peki Sirola.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The band toured Finnish clubs, playing McCoy and Monroe's own songs and covers like Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore", The Police's "Born in the 50s" and MC5's "Looking at You". At one of the band's first shows was Seppo Vesterinen, who had brought big-name artists like Iggy Pop and Frank Zappa to Finland. Vesterinen soon became the band's manager after speaking with McCoy and Monroe. In late 1980 Andy McCoy left Pelle Miljoona Oy to join Hanoi Rocks, and was later joined by another former Pelle Miljoona Oy member, bassist Sami Yaffa. McCoy replaced Stefan Piesnack, who had been arrested for drug possession, and Yaffa replaced Nedo. By then Peki had left the band, and when they relocated to Stockholm, they hired an old friend of Monroe and McCoy's, drummer Gyp Casino.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: When they moved to Stockholm, the bandmembers lived mostly on the street, begging for money, except Andy McCoy, who lived with his wealthy girlfriend. In November 1980, the band struck a deal with Johanna Kustannus and released its debut single, "I Want You / Kill City Kills". "I Want You" was a new version of the Swedish song "Vill ha dej" by Heartbreak. McCoy had translated the song, whose title means "I Want You" in Swedish, into English and claimed it as his own. "Kill City Kills" was one of McCoy's oldest songs, which he had written when he was hanging around at a Finnish apartment block called Kill City. Gyp Casino was the band's drummer but did not play on the single as he was recording with another band in Stockholm.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The band launched a 102-day tour in January 1981, which is believed to be the longest rock tour in Finnish history. The tour developed the band's energetic and wild playing style, which audiences were slow to find pleasing but later praised the band for.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The second single "Tragedy / Café Avenue", written by McCoy when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, was released in February 1981. That same month, the band released its debut album, "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks", produced by Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy, calling themselves "The Muddy Twins." The album was well-received, reaching number five on the Finnish album charts.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In September 1981, after extensive tours in Sweden and Finland, the band moved to London, where they recorded their second album. On 19 September 1981, the band made their debut at the Marquee Club in London. In late November they returned to Finland and released the single "Desperados / Devil Woman". Another single, "Dead by X-Mas / Nothing New", was released in December.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In January 1982, Hanoi Rocks recorded their first music videos at the Lepakko, a concert venue and centre of independent youth culture, for the songs "Tragedy", "Oriental Beat", and "Motorvatin'". That same month, the band released their second album "Oriental Beat". The album was mostly well received by critics and magazines, including "Sounds" and "Kerrang!", whose Dave Dickson continued to extensively cover Hanoi Rocks's career in the 1980s. The band spent the spring of 1982 touring in Sweden, and had their first Japanese breakthrough with "Tragedy." In May, the single "Love's an Injection / Taxi Driver" was released.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: By June 1982, the band had permanently moved to London. Monroe met a Hanoi Rocks fan called Razzle at a Johnny Thunders show. When Razzle, who was the drummer for London punk band The Dark, found out that Monroe was the singer for Hanoi Rocks, he attended some shows, showed up backstage, and asked to be the band's drummer. McCoy and Monroe fired Gyp Casino for his drug use, depression, and suicidal thoughts, and Razzle was hired as the new drummer.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In August 1982, Hanoi Rocks released their third studio album, "Self Destruction Blues". The album featured old singles like "Love's an Injection". Razzle had yet to join the band when the songs were recorded, but he is credited on the album. The album was released in October in Finland, with "Love's an Injection" spending a week at number one on the Finnish singles charts. The band also signed a contract with the Japanese record company Nippon Phonogram.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: By January 1983, the band was touring outside of the UK, Finland, and Sweden. The Asian tour was largely covered by British magazines, and the band was featured on the cover of "Sounds". The tour started in Bombay, continuing in Hong Kong and Japan. In Japan the band was very popular, with fans breaking into hotels to see the musicians. The ticket prices for the show were as high as for stadium-fillers, and some phone booths in Tokyo played Hanoi Rocks songs. The tour continued from Tokyo to Vietnam.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In April, the band returned to London for the recording of their fourth album, and went to Israel, where they were not well received. Monroe could not leave the hotel because of his somewhat unconventional appearance: local people thought he was an improperly-dressed woman and would gather around and spit on him. Also, Nasty Suicide broke his ankle; and people did not like the band's loud playing style. In late spring, Hanoi Rocks toured London and Norway, and released a single before the new album, "Malibu Beach / Rebel On The Run".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The band's fourth album, "Back to Mystery City", was released shortly afterward. It reached number 87 on the UK Albums Chart. Hanoi Rocks toured the UK and in Finland until June 1983, when the band made a deal with CBS worth £150,000.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In August 1983, Hanoi Rocks released the 7" single "Until I Get You / Tragedy", and the 12" maxi-single "Until I Get You / Tragedy / Oriental Beat." On 13 August, Lick Records released Hanoi Rocks's first three albums in Britain for the first time. The next day, the band played a show at the Ruisrock festival in Turku, Finland. Before the show, Michael Monroe stated in an interview with the Finnish television station YLE that McCoy and Suicide's alcohol use had gotten out of hand, and that he did not drink or use drugs. In October 1983, producer Bob Ezrin flew from the US to see Hanoi Rocks live in London, and in December he was confirmed as the producer for the next album.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Their December shows at Marquee were recorded and released as a live album and an accompanying live video, both titled "All Those Wasted Years".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In early 1984, Hanoi Rocks and Bob Ezrin recorded "Two Steps from the Move", in New York and Toronto. Ezrin had invited Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople to help with the songwriting, and Hunter brought Jack Bruce (formerly of Cream), who in turn brought Pete Brown, to the recording sessions. Brown wrote a lot of lyrics, but the only one the band used was "Smoked a lot of sky, drank a lot of rain", in "Million Miles Away".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: By the end of April the new album was almost ready for release, but Ezrin and the label thought that the album was missing a hit, so they recorded Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Up Around the Bend", which was already a favorite of Michael Monroe and Nasty Suicide.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In May 1984, Hanoi Rocks went on tour in Bombay and Japan. In Japan, excitement over the band led to sold-out concert halls and fans following the band everywhere. Even in Finland people were baffled by the extent of the band's popularity in Japan.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The Japanese tour was followed by a tour across England and Scotland. British magazines raved about the band, and were certain that the next record would be their breakthrough. In June, the single "Up Around The Bend / Until I Get You" was released, but it also appeared as a double single and as an EP. A music video for "Up Around the Bend" was also produced. At the time it was the most expensive music video for any Finnish band. The song climbed to number 61 on the UK Singles Chart, and got radio airplay in America.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: After a July tour in England, "Two Steps From The Move", whose title was changed from "Silver Missiles and Nightingales" at the last minute, was released. It was their most successful album in the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number 28. "Underwater World / Shakes" and "Two Steps From the Move" were released as singles in the UK, and right away the band went on tour with Johnny Thunders.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In November the single "Don't You Ever Leave Me / Oil And Gasoline" was released, by which time the new album had sold 200,000 copies—most of them in the U.S. (60,000), Britain (50,000), and Finland (20,000). In the US the album sold 44,000 copies in its first two weeks.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: After a Swedish tour, the band toured America until Michael Monroe fractured his ankle onstage at USA Sam's in Syracuse, New York, on 29 November, resulting in some of the dates being canceled. Los Angeles shows were all sold out in less than half an hour.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: On 8 December, Hanoi Rocks band members (except for Michael Monroe, who was recuperating from his fractured ankle) were partying with their friends Mötley Crüe, at lead singer Vince Neil's house. The party stopped when everybody noticed they were out of beer. Neil and Razzle, both drunk, went to a nearby liquor store in Neil's Pantera, with Neil driving. On the way back, they crashed into another car. Razzle was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead at 7:12 p.m.; he had died instantly in the collision.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Both occupants of the other car were seriously injured, sustaining brain damage as a result of the crash. Andy McCoy and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee went looking for Neil and Razzle. They drove by the crash site and saw Neil handcuffed and put into a police car. They were informed that Razzle had been taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. McCoy informed the band's manager Seppo Vesterinen, who then told the rest of the band. The band returned to London. The only tour dates not canceled were two shows at Helsinki Kulttuuritalo on 3 and 4 January 1985, which were broadcast live under the title of "Europe A Go-Go" to a worldwide audience of 200 million viewers. Both shows became memorials to Razzle, with "Million Miles Away" dedicated to him. Former Clash drummer Terry Chimes played the drums.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In 1985, after the shows, Sam Yaffa left the group due to personal differences with Andy McCoy. The band returned to London to take a short break. Yaffa was replaced by bassist René Berg. Terry Chimes remained as the new drummer. Monroe planned to quit, but the record label convinced him to do a short tour in Poland, where "Don't You Ever Leave Me" was rising on the charts. Monroe agreed on the condition that no live record would be released, but a semi-official live album was released. Entitled "Rock & Roll Divorce", the album was panned by the managers, band members and critics. René Berg often stated that Hanoi Rocks was "his band", which led to his replacement by bassist Timo Kaltio. This line-up never performed live, and on 17 June 1985, Monroe officially left Hanoi Rocks, ending the band. At the same time, "Don't You Ever Leave Me" rose to number 6 on the Polish singles chart and Hanoi Rocks's popularity continued into the 1990s.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In February 2001, Monroe and McCoy performed together for the first time since 1985 in Turku, Finland. They toured again in the summer of 2001, under the moniker "Hanoi Revisited".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: After the short tour, Monroe and McCoy agreed to reform the band. This would be (as the two put it), a "rebirth", not a reformation of Hanoi Rocks, mainly because none of the other members were able to join: Razzle was dead; Nasty Suicide had become a pharmacist; Sami Yaffa was a member of a New York-based group called Mad Juana and the bassist for the New York Dolls; and Gyp Casino was no longer active in music. "The Muddy Twins" chose Kari "Lacu" Lahtinen from Monroe's solo band to play the drums, Timpa Laine (also from Monroe's solo band) to play the bass, and Costello Hautamäki from the Finnish rock band Popeda to play guitar.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The new Hanoi Rocks toured. McCoy and Monroe made a deal that they would be equal writers on songs, and not just McCoy. By 2002, the two had written enough songs for an album, and "Twelve Shots on the Rocks" was released. Although the album was a hit in Finland and Japan, Monroe and McCoy were not present when the album was mixed, and when they heard the finished product they were not happy. The album was remixed in 2003, featuring two new songs, "Moonlite Dance" and "Bad News".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Most of 2003 and 2004 consisted of touring, but Costello departed to continue his work with Popeda. Costello was replaced by guitarist Stevie Klasson, whose only recording with Hanoi Rocks was the "Keep Our Fire Burning" single. Klasson was fired from Hanoi Rocks in the fall of 2004 for not getting along with other members. Bassist Timpa left because of family issues.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In 2004 the band (now consisting of Monroe, McCoy and Lacu) headed to the studio to record the album "Another Hostile Takeover". With no bassist and no guitarist, Monroe had to play some of the bass and guitar parts, but in early 2005 the band was able to find a new guitarist, Conny Bloom. Bloom had played with Gyp Casino and the Electric Boys and fit well with Hanoi Rocks. He suggested that bassist Andy "A.C." Christell, who had also played with the Electric Boys, should join the band.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The reaction to "Another Hostile Takeover" was mixed. Critics liked the album's diversity and braveness to try new things, but some of the old fans and hard rock fans thought that the album was weird and that Hanoi Rocks had changed too much since the 1980s.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: On 18 August 2007 the band perform their new single 'Fashion' on Swedish Saturday live TV show Sommarkrysset (TV4).


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: For 2007's "Street Poetry" the band worked on some of the unfinished songs from the 1980s, such as "Teenage Revolution", which was first thought of during the "Two Steps from the Move" sessions in 1984. This album also marked the first time that other band members besides Monroe and McCoy were permitted to write songs. "Street Poetry" was released on 5 September 2007, and a music video was shot for the first single, "Fashion".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: On 25 January 2008 Lacu suddenly announced that he was going to leave Hanoi Rocks to join Popeda. On 20 March, the band started their first acoustic tour, titled “Hanoi Rocks Steppin’ Out Acoustically”, during which the band's drum technician played drums. On 25 May, it was announced that the band's new drummer would be Swedish drummer George Atlagic. By this time Monroe and McCoy had come to the decision that Hanoi Rocks's time had come to an end, as they no longer had collaborated since 2007 and things were getting stale. Eventually Monroe and McCoy released a statement that they had taken the band as far as they could and that the band would break up.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In late 2008 an autobiography titled "All Those Wasted Years" was released. It mainly covered Hanoi Rocks's career in the 1980s and included rare photos of the band and its members and new interviews with Monroe, McCoy, Nasty Suicide, Gyp Casino, Seppo Vesterinen, Richard Bishop and countless others.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks announced that they would play eight farewell shows over six days at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki. All the shows were sold out, and the band's original guitarist Nasty Suicide appeared as a special guest in three of the last gigs, and Lacu also appeared at the final show.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Although Hanoi Rocks never achieved huge commercial success, they have a very big cult following and they have received critical acclaim for their musical style and energetic live performances. On 5 January 1985, Hanoi Rocks was featured in almost every category in a poll cast by "Sounds", including Best Album (5th), Best Band (2nd) and Best Live Act (3rd).


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks's influence can be seen in various bands, including Guns N' Roses, and their glam look has been used by many bands, including Poison, L.A. Guns and Ratt. Other bands like Manic Street Preachers, Murderdolls, Skid Row and the Foo Fighters have acknowledged being Hanoi Rocks fans. Alice in Chains also often played Hanoi Rocks's "Taxi Driver" live in their early days. Other Finnish rock groups that were influenced by Hanoi Rocks include The 69 Eyes (with whom McCoy has also worked) and Negative. In Finland, Hanoi Rocks is known as the Finnish rock band who, at their time, had come closest to real international fame, only much later giving way to such groups as HIM, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Children of Bodom and Turisas.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks also brought the glam rock look of the 1970s back into style. In 2003, when Nasty Suicide was asked about the band's look, he said that he and Michael Monroe decided to keep the punk leather jackets but bring a kind of ""transvestite vibe to it"".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Even though Hanoi Rocks influenced many 1980s glam bands, some feel that these bands ripped off Hanoi Rocks. In 2008 Joe Elliott, frontman of English hard rock band Def Leppard, described his dislike of 1980s glam metal bands like Mötley Crüe and Poison, and said this about Hanoi Rocks:


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: ""The only band — and I'm not saying it because we're here (Sweden Rock Festival) — the only band that did pull it off was Hanoi Rocks. I thought Hanoi Rocks were a good band, and they looked… Michael Monroe (Hanoi frontman) was one of the best… I would have shagged him. [Laughs] I like Michael, I think he's sexy, and I'm not gay. And I think Andy McCoy (Hanoi guitarist) does the best kind of Keith Richards... so much better than Mötley Crüe or Poison or any of those bands. They (Hanoi Rocks) were real — the rest of the guys, it was all a bit fake for me.""


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Michael Monroe and Hanoi Rocks have influenced many rock'n'roll artists and bands: Slash and Duff McKagan had bought tickets to the sold-out gigs in Los Angeles, which were canceled because of the death of Razzle. In the Hanoi Rocks autobiography "All Those Wasted Years" Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett says "The Hollywood scene changed in just one night after people saw the pictures of Hanoi Rocks. After that everyone was wearing the same kind of hair, clothes and make up as Monroe". Michael Monroe and Hanoi Rocks have often been mentioned as the starters of the Hollywood's glam-rock scene, which was then adopted and developed by many 1980s glam, punk, and hard rock bands like Mötley Crüe, Jetboy, LA Guns and Poison.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks is cited as one of the most influential glam metal bands of all time in the documentary movie.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: American TV Channel VH1 named the top "hair bands" of all time, and Hanoi Rocks was at number 40. When Sam Yaffa was asked about it, he replied: "We were a hat band, not a hair band!".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: In 2013, American newspaper LA Weekly listed Hanoi Rocks at number 1 on their list of the "15 Best Hair Metal Bands of All Time".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Andy McCoy has said that the Guns N' Roses song "Paradise City" is a compilation of a few riffs of Hanoi Rocks. He said the chorus is the same as the riff in "Lost in the City", just slowed down. Nasty Suicide can also be seen in the music video for "Paradise City".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The Guns N' Roses song "Right Next Door to Hell" was co-written by former Hanoi Rocks bassist Timo Kaltio.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks is mentioned in the Bret Michaels song "Human Zoo" on his 1998 soundtrack album, "A Letter from Death Row".


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: Hanoi Rocks is mentioned in the NOFX song "We Got Two Jealous Agains" on their 2003 album The War on Errorism.


title: Hanoi Rocks

text: The fictional character Peacemaker mentions Hanoi Rocks as "only the greatest band of all time" in the eponymous 2022 TV series. The same episode also features Hanoi Rocks songs "11th Street Kids" and "Fallen Star".


title: Xenogears

text: Xenogears is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger "Xeno" franchise. The gameplay of "Xenogears" revolves around navigating 3D environments both on-foot and using humanoid mecha dubbed "Gears". Combat is governed by a version of the turn-based "Active Time Battle" system. The story follows protagonist Fei Fong Wong and several others as they journey across the world to overthrow the all-powerful rule of Solaris and uncover mysteries concerning their world. The story incorporates Jungian psychology, Freudian thought, and religious symbolism.


title: Xenogears

text: Created by Tetsuya Takahashi and his wife Kaori Tanaka as a proposal for "Final Fantasy VII", it was allowed to be developed as its own project; first as a sequel to "Chrono Trigger" and then as an original game with a science fiction premise. It was developed under the working title "Project Noah". The characters were designed by Kunihiko Tanaka, while the gears were designed by Junya Ishigaki and Yoshinori Ogura. The designs were portrayed during in-game cinematics through the use of anime cutscenes. Due to time constraints and the team's general inexperience, the second half of the game's plot was primarily told through cutscenes.


title: Xenogears

text: The game was almost not localized due to its religious content; its localization was handled by Square Electronic Arts staff and translator Richard Honeywood, who described it as one of the most troublesome games of his career. Xenogears received critical acclaim, with many calling it a work of art due to its heavy religious themes and elements of Jungian psychology. Praises particularly went towards the storyline, gameplay, characters, and psychological and religious themes, but received criticism for the rushed pace of the second disc, due to a lack of gameplay and excessive narration. By 2003, the game had shipped 1.19 million copies worldwide, gaining a cult following. While a direct sequel has not been developed, Takahashi would later found Monolith Soft and develop the "Xenosaga" trilogy and "Xenoblade Chronicles" games as spiritual successors.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" combines traditional role-playing video game structures such as Square's signature Active Time Battle system with new features particular to the game's martial arts combat style. It features two slightly different battle systems: in the first, the player controls human characters in turn-based combat manipulated through the sequencing of learned combos. The second, making use of "gears", introduces different sets of statistics and abilities for each character. "Xenogears" features both traditional anime and pre-rendered CGI movie clips by Production I.G to illustrate important plot points.


title: Xenogears

text: The player advances the protagonist and his companions through a three-dimensional fictional world with visitable cities, geographical sites, and other locations spread out across several continents. Some locations exist not on the original world map, but in the sky. At first, the party only travels on foot, but can eventually use a variety of vehicles, including their gears and the "sand submarine" Yggdrasil.


title: Xenogears

text: Battle in "Xenogears" is a variant of the Active Time Battle system found in games such as "Chrono Trigger" and the "Final Fantasy" series. Most enemy encounters in "Xenogears" are random. When a battle begins, there is a transition to a separate screen with a combat interface. Player-characters use a combination of martial arts moves, "Ether" (magical) attacks, and special "Deathblow" combinations, which are learned through the repetition of specific proportions of strong, moderate, and weak hits. All offensive actions use Action Points (AP), costing either three points, two points, or one point, corresponding to the intensity of the attack. Each character can initially use only three AP per turn, but at higher levels, they can eventually use up to seven AP per turn. At a certain point in the game, characters can use "Elemental Deathblows", which attach elemental attributes to physical combos. In addition to being used for attacks, AP may be saved and allocated to Attack Points for combo attacks during later turns. A total of 28 AP may be accumulated for combo attacks.


title: Xenogears

text: Characters can use a variety of magical abilities for both offense and ally-support. These abilities are limited by the number of available Ether Points (EP), which must be replenished using items during exploration (non-combat) sequences. For most characters, these abilities are attributed to "Ether", a mysterious power to which (presumably) all humans have access. Some characters' magical abilities are referred to by different names, implying differences in their origins. For example, Fei's magic is called "Chi" and Citan's is called "Arcane". While fighting in gears, human Ether abilities are amplified, though some change or become unavailable during this type of combat.


title: Xenogears

text: In addition to hand-to-hand combat, the characters sometimes fight from within giant robots called gears. In gear combat, the limiting factor of AP is replaced by fuel, with each attack consuming an amount corresponding to its power. For these battles, "deathblows" may only be executed after first building up the "Attack Level"—represented by a number in the bottom-left of the gear combat interface—through the execution of strong, moderate, or weak attacks. One deathblow is allowed per point on the Attack Level gauge. There are three levels for normal gear deathblows and, beyond the third level, an "infinite" level with its own set of deathblows. To reach "Infinity Mode", a character must stay at attack level 3 while performing any other action. With each turn, there is a chance that Infinity Mode will be reached. Having a duration of three turns, Infinity Mode allows fuel to be recharged in much larger quantities and, while in this mode, gears have access to "Infinity" attacks. Gears can regain fuel with a "Charge" command. The gears can activate "Boosters" which enable them to act faster at a cost of extra fuel per turn. The "Special Option" command allows for gear HP restoration abilities and special, fuel-consuming attacks. When a gear has no fuel left, it can no longer execute attacks, use special options, or use boosters. They can, however, Charge to regain fuel and use Ether abilities. Gear fuel, parts, and upgrades may be purchased in shops or from certain individual vendors.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" initially takes place on Ignas, the largest continent of the "Xenogears" world and the site of a centuries-long war between the nations of Aveh and Kislev. A church-like organization known as the Ethos has excavated gears, giant robot suits, for the preservation of the world's culture. Although Kislev originally had the upper hand in the war, a mysterious army known as Gebler appeared and began to assist Aveh. With Gebler's help, the Aveh military recovered its losses and began making its way into Kislev's territory. As the story unfolds, the setting broadens to encompass the entire world and the two floating countries, Shevat and Solaris. Solaris, ruled by Emperor Cain and an AI collective known as the Gazel Ministry, commands the Gebler army and the Ethos and secretly uses both to dominate the land-dwellers. Shevat has been the only country to evade the control of Solaris.


title: Xenogears

text: Much of the "Xenogears" plot and backstory is detailed in the Japanese-only book "Xenogears Perfect Works". Produced by DigiCube, it details the history of the "Xenogears" universe from the discovery of the Zohar to the start of the game. According to the "Perfect Works" schematic (as well as the game's end credits), "Xenogears" is the fifth episode in a series of six, with events spanning multiple millennia.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" nine playable characters come from different areas of the game's world. The game begins on Ignas, a continent with two countries, Aveh and Kislev. Fei and Citan at first appear to be from this land, although it is later learned that they originate from the capital cities Aphel Aura and Etrenank of the floating countries of Shevat and Solaris, respectively. Fei is the story's protagonist, and has initially lost his memories of his past. Elly, a beautiful Gebler officer of Solaris, is destined to be near Fei and falls in love with him by the end of the game. Citan is a man whose knowledge of the world and technology often aids in the party's quest. Bart, a desert pirate, is also from Ignas and is the rightful heir to the throne of Aveh. Rico, a demi-human with incredible strength, lives in a Kislev prison, spending his days as a gear-battling champion. Solaris, a hidden city of advanced technology, is home to several characters in the game. Billy, a pious worker for the Ethos religious group, was originally from Solaris. Maria and Chu-Chu are both from Shevat, the floating city and the only place resisting Solaris' domination. Emeralda is a humanoid being constructed by an ancient civilization from a colony of nanomachines, and was retrieved from the ruins of the ancient civilization Zeboim. Significant non-playable characters include Krelian and Miang, both leaders of Solaris who seek to revive Deus, a mechanical weapon that fell to earth thousands of years ago. They serve as the game's main antagonists. Grahf, a mysterious man with immense power, serves as a major antagonist; he follows Fei and his group and often fights them, though his goals remain a mystery until very late in the game. As being "the Contact", "the Anti-type" and "the Complement", Fei, Elly, and Miang have been reincarnated several times throughout the game's history.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" centers around the protagonist Fei Fong Wong, an adopted young male in the village of Lahan, brought by a mysterious "masked man" three years ago. The events surrounding Fei's arrival at the village cause him to have retrograde amnesia. During an attack on Lahan from Gebler, Fei pilots an empty gear and fights the enemy, accidentally destroying the village. As a result, Fei and Citan, the village's doctor, leave with the abandoned gear to get it away from the village. Fei meets Elly, a Gebler officer, and then Grahf, who claims to know about Fei's past and admits to spearheading the attack on Lahan to unlock Fei's abilities. Eventually, Fei and Citan are picked up by Bart, a desert pirate and heir to the throne of Aveh. Fei again loses control of himself inside his gear while Bart and Citan are attacked by an unknown red gear. Fei wakes up in a Kislev prison and meets Wiseman, a mysterious masked man, who originally brought Fei to Lahan. Fei is able to escape with the help of his friends, including a new one, prisoner Rico, but he and Elly are separated from the rest of the party and accidentally shot down by Bart.


title: Xenogears

text: They are rescued by the Thames, a mobile floating city. After learning Elly's whereabouts, Gebler attacks Thames to kidnap Elly and Miang, a Gebler officer, unsuccessfully attempts to brainwash her. Gebler leader Ramsus, who holds a vendetta against Fei, attacks Thames, searching for him. Afterward, Billy, an Ethos worker onboard Thames, allows Fei to use the Ethos' advanced medical technology. Bishop Stone, Ethos' leader, reveals to the party Ethos's true purpose of controlling the land dwellers, or "Lambs", for Solaris. The group follows Stone to Zeboim, an excavation site. They discover a young girl composed of nanomachines, which is what Solarian leader Krelian seeks. Stone takes the girl while the group fights Id, the mysterious red gear's pilot, who wants the girl, but is stopped by Wiseman. The group returns and finds Fei awake and standing at his gear with a case of anterograde amnesia. Fei and his friends decide to ally themselves with the floating city of Shevat, the only remaining city capable of resisting Solaris, joined by Shevat locals Maria and Chu-Chu. During this time, Bart regains his throne and initiates peace between the two countries and Stone is destroyed. Upon entering Solaris, they encounter Emeralda, the nanomachine colony. She attacks at first, but recognizes Fei, referring to him as "Kim", much to Fei's confusion. In Solaris, Fei learns that Citan has been working for Emperor Cain and that Solaris has been producing food and medicine out of mutated humans in the Soylent System facility. The party also learns that the Gazel Ministry seeks to revive God and achieve eternal life, while Krelian seeks to possess Elly. They escape from Solaris before Id destroys it as Citan was really a double agent on their side because Cain was actually against the Ministry. Back at Shevat, Citan informs his friends that Id is actually Fei's split personality, with Fei's gear turning red when he switches to Id due to their connection.


title: Xenogears

text: After Krelian manipulates Ramsus into assassinating the Emperor, the Gazel Ministry uses the Gaetia Key, an artifact that manipulates the DNA of massive numbers of humans around the world, turning them into mutants called Wels to collect flesh to reconstruct their god, an all-powerful war machine called Deus that crash-landed on the planet ten thousand years ago. During this time, Elly and Fei become romantically involved with each other and learn that they are the reincarnations of Sophia and Lacan. Lacan was a painter while Sophia was the Holy Mother of Nisan around the time of the war between Shevat and Solaris five hundred years earlier. Lacan blamed himself for Sophia's death during the war and, with the help of Miang, became Grahf and sought to destroy the world. Although defeated, he and Miang have transmigrated their minds into other humans since. Krelian disposes the Gazel Ministry because they are no longer necessary and kidnaps Elly, the "Mother", with Miang who must be sacrificed in order to revive Deus. Miang is killed by an enraged Ramsus as he realizes he has been used, and Elly turns into Miang. Before becoming absorbed by Deus with Krelian, Miang revealed that Deus is actually the core of an interplanetary invasion system created by a federation of spacefaring humans, one that was deemed far too dangerous for use and was therefore dismantled. Fei, as Id, attempts to make contact with the Zohar. Wiseman, who reveals himself to be Fei's father, stops him, giving peace to Fei's other personalities. At this time, Fei makes contact with the Wave Existence—an extra-dimensional being who is trapped inside Deus and is the source of power for all gears—and learns that he must destroy Deus to free humanity. Fei's gear transforms into the Xenogears and Grahf appears, revealing that he had been inside Fei's father's body. Grahf tries to merge with Fei but is defeated and sacrifices himself.


title: Xenogears

text: Fei had discovered that he is a descendant of Abel, a young boy who was a passenger on board the Eldridge, a spaceship that was being used to transport Deus, who had become self-aware and took over the Eldridge. Amidst the confusion, Abel was separated from his mother and accidentally made contact with the Wave Existence through the Zohar, Deus' power source. It gave him the power to one day destroy Deus and the Zohar in order to free itself. The Wave Existence also sensed Abel's longing for his mother and used the biological computer Kadomony to create a woman for a companion. When Deus gained full control over the Eldridge, the captain decided to initiate the self-destruct sequence in an attempt to destroy it. Both Deus and the Zohar survived the explosion and landed on a nearby planet along with Abel, under the protection of the Wave Existence. He was the sole survivor, but was soon united with the woman that the Wave Existence had created for him as a companion, Elly. Abel and Elly, at first, led a happy life, but Deus had also created Miang, Cain, and the Gazel Ministry to begin a human civilization on the planet, one which would be under their control to one day be turned into Wels and be absorbed into Deus to recover its strength. When the now-adult Abel and Elly discovered this, they openly challenged Cain and the Gazel Ministry, but lost and were both killed. However, through the power of the Wave Existence, they are able to be reincarnated in later eras to combat Deus. One of these incarnations lived during an ancient technologically advanced era in Zeboim, where Abel's incarnation went by the name Kim and created Emeralda. Ramsus, revealed to be a biologically engineered clone of Emperor Cain, who had a change of heart overtime after killing Abel, created by Krelian and Miang as a means of controlling Deus who was rejected in favor of Fei, hence his hatred of the latter, attacks one more time and is finally defeated. He is later rescued during an attack and convinced to let go of his anger and aid the group.


title: Xenogears

text: Fei sets out to destroy Deus and free the Wave Existence and Elly. In Merkaba, the party defeats Deus, but they realize that the energy released from the Wave Existence's shift will destroy the planet. Elly, inside Deus, tries to move it away from the planet and Fei, in his Xenogears, follows to save her, but both disappear in the rift. Krelian confronts them, telling Fei he only sought to end the pain and suffering that comes with human existence by reverting everything back to when it all began, when all was one, to ascend to the realm of God. Fei rejects Krelian's ideology with his love for Elly, but Krelian challenges Fei, telling him to prove this love that could make him independent of God, and calls forth Urobolus, a gigantic serpentine incarnation of Miang. Xenogears appears and Fei uses it to defeat Urobolus, destroying Miang for good. Krelian releases Elly and reveals to Fei that he had planned to become one with God along with Elly. During her time with Krelian, Elly had seen inside his heart and realized it was full of sadness and despair for all the atrocities he had committed. Despite everything, Elly says that Krelian truly loved people more than anyone else. Because no one will forgive his sins, he declines Fei's offer to return and ascends to a higher plane of existence along with the Wave Existence, telling Fei and Elly that he envies them. Fei and Elly then return to their planet along with Xenogears and reunite with the rest of the party.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" was produced by Hiromichi Tanaka, who previously worked on the SNES game "Secret of Mana". The scenario of the game was written by director Tetsuya Takahashi and by Kaori Tanaka. Yasuyuki Honne served as art director, while Kunihiko Tanaka was responsible for the character designs. Tetsuo Mizuno, Tomoyuki Takechi, and "Final Fantasy" creator Hironobu Sakaguchi were executive producers for "Xenogears". Koichi Mashimo, an animation director and his studio Bee Train, was in charge of the anime cut scenes. The CGI sequences were created by Shirogumi. "Xenogears" started out as an early concept conceived by Takahashi and Tanaka for the Square game "Final Fantasy VII". Their superior in the company deemed it "too dark and complicated for a fantasy", but Takahashi was allowed to develop it as a separate project. The project began under the working title "Project Noah". The main impetus for Takahashi was that he was growing frustrated with the "Final Fantasy" series. The initial concept was to make "Xenogears" a sequel to "Chrono Trigger", but after multiple clashes with the company over this and unspecified practical difficulties, it was decided to make it a completely original title. Due to this initial development idea, there were concepts unsuited for a fantasy world, so a compromise was made by incorporating both fantasy and science fiction into the game's world.


title: Xenogears

text: Development took approximately two years, and included a staff of thirty developers. Preliminary planning and creation of the backstory extended to several years before that. The word "Xeno" had been decided between staff from an early stage, with its meaning being "something strange or alien". "Gears" was chosen from multiple suggested words. The game's Gears were not present during early stages, with their places being filled by traditional summoned monsters. The game's use of anime cutscenes was chosen as it was difficult to properly recreate Tanaka's Gear artwork into 3D CGI. The game's engine was also designed to be best suited for the 3D map displays and battle arenas. Takahashi had wanted to create the game in full 3D, but the PlayStation's capacities meant this could not be managed, resulting in the current mesh of 2D sprites against 3D backgrounds. The themes and story were greatly influenced by the works and philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, as well as dystopian science fiction films such as THX 1138 and Soylent Green. According to Tanaka, the reason for this correlation was simply due to a common interest with her husband. According to her, the story revolved around "where do we come from, what are we, where are we going". There was a large portion of story and artwork that did not make it into the final game. The game's second disc consisted mainly of narration by Fei and Elly of events following the party's escape from Solaris. While it was popularly assumed to be due to budget constraints, Takahashi later revealed the full reason; as his team was inexperienced they were unable to create the entire proposed game in the expected two-year development time, so instead of ending prematurely with the end of the first disc, Takahashi offered up a compromise which became the second disc's content, allowing the staff to finish the game within time and budget deadlines.


title: Xenogears

text: Square had announced that "Xenogears" may not have come out in the United States due to "sensitive religious issues". The English translation of "Xenogears" was the first instance in which an English localization team worked directly with Square developers. It was the first major project of Square translator Richard Honeywood. According to Honeywood, translating the game was a particularly difficult task due to it containing numerous scientific concepts and philosophies. He came into contact with it because its previously assigned translators quit or asked for reassignment due to its challenge. In a later interview, Honeywood stated that the biggest issue was with the multiple religious references, and the concept at the end of "killing God", which needed to be adjusted so that it remained faithful to the original premise while stepping around some content that might offend. Honeywood may also have had a hand in the Japanese naming of Deus: the staff were originally going to call it Yahweh, and during his argument against it he said "It's dangerous" (ヤベーよ, "yabē yo"). The Japanese staff found the similarity between Yahweh and "yabē" amusing, and, according to Honeywood, decided to call the boss Yabeh in Japanese. However, in the final Japanese release of Xenogears, the boss is called Deus (デウス, "deusu"), so either the name was changed again at a later point or Honeywood's account is inaccurate.


title: Xenogears

text: Square Enix released "Xenogears" on the Japanese PlayStation Network on June 25, 2008, and in North America on February 22, 2011.


title: Xenogears

text: The music in "Xenogears" was composed, arranged, and produced by Yasunori Mitsuda, his first major project since the 1995 Super NES title "Chrono Trigger". The "Xenogears Original Soundtrack" was released on two discs and published by DigiCube in Japan in 1998. The score contains 41 instrumental tracks, in addition to a choral track and two songs. According to Mitsuda, the music of "Xenogears" belongs to the traditional music genre. Though he first described it as stemming from "a world of [his] own imagining" rather than any specific country, he has also claimed a strong Irish or Celtic music influence. There are two vocal tracks included on the OST, and both are sung by Joanne Hogg. One of the tracks, "Stars of Tears", did not appear in the final version of the game. It was originally intended to play in a cut scene at the start of the game along with the main staff credits. The scene, however, was removed for pacing issues, as it would have made the combined opening movie and introduction scenes last roughly ten minutes. The other, "Small Two of Pieces ~Screeching Shards~", was the first ending theme with lyrics to ever appear in a game developed by Square.


title: Xenogears

text: An arranged soundtrack of "Xenogears" composed and arranged by Mitsuda was released as "Creid". For "Creid", he expanded on the theme from the original album of having Celtic influences in "easy-to-listen-to" pop tracks to create an album of arranged "Xenogears" music with a more prominent Celtic style. The album contains a mixture of vocal and instrumental tracks, and combines Japanese and Celtic music together in its pieces. The album features five vocal tracks and five instrumental tracks. The main lyricist, Junko Kudo, wrote the lyrics to four of the five vocal tracks, while Mitsuda wrote the lyrics to the title track, which were then translated from Japanese to Gaelic for the recording. Celtic singer Joanne Hogg did not reprise her role in "Creid". Instead, Tetsuko Honma sang the four tracks written by Kudo, while Eimear Quinn sang "Creid". "", an album of music from the game arranged orchestrally by Mitsuda's own music company Procyon Studio, was released on CD and vinyl in February 2011.


title: Xenogears

text: A Blu-ray album entitled "Xenogears Original Soundtrack Revival Disc - the first and the last -" was released in Japan on April 4, 2018. The album is a remaster of the original soundtrack, plus outtakes and other content. A 20th anniversary concert was held in Tokyo, Japan on April 7 and 8, 2018.


title: Xenogears

text: There have been several Japanese books and comics published concerning the "Xenogears" franchise. "Xenogears God Slaying Story", a series by Masatoshi Kusakabe, was published by Shueisha in 1998. DigiCube published both "Xenogears Perfect Works" and a memorial album named "Thousands of Daggers", which contains the entire script to the game in Japanese, along with screenshots. Two manga books, "Xenogears Comic Anthology" and "Xenogears 4koma Comic", were released by Movic. Movic released wallscrolls, notebooks, pins, keychains, stickers, and postcards depicting the "Xenogears" cast.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" was a commercial success in both Japan and North America. It received a "Gold Prize" from Sony in May 1998, indicating sales above 500,000 units in Japan, and proceeded to sell over 890,000 copies domestically by the end of the year. As of March 31, 2003, the game had shipped 1.19 million copies worldwide, with 910,000 of those copies being shipped in Japan and 280,000 abroad. As a result of these sales, it was re-released as a Greatest Hits title in December 2003. In Japanese gaming magazine "Famitsu", "Xenogears" was voted the 16th best video game of all time by its readers in a poll held in 2006. On a similar poll at GameFAQs, users of the website voted "Xenogears" the 32nd "Best Game Ever" in 2005. It was placed in the same position in IGN's "Top 100 Games - Readers Choice" feature in 2006, and as number 28 in 2008.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" was met with critical acclaim. "Electronic Gaming Monthly" praised the story, characters, gameplay, graphics, and soundtrack. IGN described it as the "hands-down best RPG" of the year, praising the storyline, gameplay, graphics, presentation, and soundtrack. GameSpot described it as one of Squaresoft's best role-playing games, praising the story, gameplay, and audio, but criticized the lack of graphical polish. Allgame pointed out in a positive light that the character battles are "unlike most role-playing games from this company".


title: Xenogears

text: The game's story and characters were well received. "Electronic Gaming Monthly" said it is "rich in story and character development." "Game Informer" and "Next Generation" agreed that the plot was one of the game's highlights, the former drawing comparisons to "Star Wars", "Star Blazers", the Old Testament, and many other Square games, making it "a game every RPG fanatic must play." IGN said the storyline is intricate, engrossing, "deep, complex, and once in a while even confusing, until more of the real underlying plotline is uncovered." GameSpot said the story is "excellent" and "thought-provoking" but said it can be "a little preachy at times", but went on to say that the religious and existential themes "enhance the story and [our] understanding of the game's deep characterizations". Game Revolution described the storyline as "epic" and "fabulous" with "many twists and turns" and a large cast of characters. RPGFan said "the story is unique and probably the most complex and interesting of any RPG", giving it a 99% rating for the story. Retrospectively, "Edge" praised the plot's scope and ambition and the protagonist as the "most complicated Freudian hero" in video games, but said it has a "flawed" script and "muddied" translation, as well as too many cut scenes, especially on the second disc, where the use of the world map is restricted for an extended period and the number of cut scenes increases. Years after the game's release, Jeremy Parish of "Electronic Gaming Monthly" called the game's plot "one of the wackiest game plotlines ever", but said that it "actually makes sense" if the player ignores all of the sideplots. IGN, however, stated that despite having too many cut scenes and a sometimes confusing plot, "immersion is a key factor in "Xenogears" and the questions you may have about the storyline are all answered at some point in the game." Following the PSN release, RPGFan's James Quentin Clark said "Xenogears" has "hands down the best single story I have seen in any video game," giving it a 100% rating for the story.


title: Xenogears

text: Reviewers largely praised "Xenogears"' gameplay. "Next Generation" praised Square's Active Time Battle gauge and said that inclusion of the AP meter and combo attacks "is not only refreshing in a turn-based RPG, but gives players a higher level of interaction during battle." IGN claimed that "the most impressive feature in combat is the ability to use massive "Gears" or mechs", noting that Square's attention to programming these battles is made evident by how "visually satisfying" they are. IGN praised the game's exploration, saying that the ability to jump and climb "adds even more depth to exploration of different environments and distances Xenogears from being too straightforward of a traditional RPG", the only complaint being that the rotating camera is sometimes "clumsy".


title: Xenogears

text: The soundtrack was well received. "Electronic Gaming Monthly" said the game sounds as "beautiful" as it looks. GameSpot said it "expertly uses audio to push the story along" and noted that many of the games' tracks "include voice or chanting and all are appropriately uppity or low with the game's mood", but said there were many areas with silence or ambience making the "game's soundtrack a tad sparse." "Xenogears" was the first Square game to feature voice overs and anime cut scenes. "Electronic Gaming Monthly" said they are "some of the slickest animation cinemas" they have seen. Game Revolution praised the "absolutely spectacular and stunning" hand-drawn anime cut-scenes, but stated that they were sparse and poorly synched with the voice acting.


title: Xenogears

text: Retrospectively, "Edge" commented that although it is "considered by some to be a multimillion-yen, convoluted science-fiction vanity project, "Xenogears" nevertheless remains one of the most keenly eulogized PlayStation RPGs." The magazine also noted that it was Takahashi's "most challenging and pure work" and that the "Xenosaga" series never quite matched up to "Xenogears".


title: Xenogears

text: Shortly after "Xenogears" was released, there was speculation of a sequel being released, although this never occurred. In 1999, Tanaka said that a project related to "Xenogears" was being developed. He also revealed that a sequel to "Xenogears" was initially planned, but never came to be. In June 2000, Sugiura Hirohide, president of Monolith Soft, said that a sequel was being considered before being cancelled due to the company's film investments at the time with "".


title: Xenogears

text: While "Xenogears" has never had an official sequel or prequel, there was speculation that Namco and Monolith Soft's "Xenosaga" was a prequel when it was first announced. Tetsuya Takahashi was the director and writer for both "Xenogears" and "Xenosaga" and noted that "with our relation between Square, I think it is difficult for us to say it is a direct sequel or prequel". Approximately twenty members of the "Xenosaga" development staff had previously worked on "Xenogears".


title: Xenogears

text: On the connection between "Xenogears" and "Xenosaga", Takahashi has stated:It's probably more suitable to say that it follows the direction and style of "Xenogears". [...] Now that we are under a different company, we figured we should start everything from scratch all over again. Though there are familiar faces that serve as important characters in "Xenosaga", others are more like self-parodies, so we don't really want "Xenogears" fans to overreact. Like movies, sometimes you have the director of the movie or friend of the leading actor appearing as cameos, so it's similar to that.


title: Xenogears

text: "Xenogears" has occasionally been featured in other Square Enix properties. On 21 October 2016, it was revealed that Xenogears would be featured in "World of Final Fantasy" as a mirage. In 2017, gears from the game, along with avatars of Fei and Bart, were included as pre-order cosmetic bonuses in Square Enix's mecha shooting game, "Figureheads". On 11 February 2018, in celebration of Xenogears' 20th Anniversary, Kunihiko Tanaka and Junya Ishigaki collaborated with Square Enix to release Xenogears Bring Arts figures of Fei, Elly and Welltall. The cast of Xenogears were also featured in "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius" for a limited time as part of a collaboration event.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Daniel Ken Holtzclaw (born December 10, 1986) is a former police officer in the United States. He was convicted in December 2015 of multiple counts of rape, sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy, and other sexual charges while working for the Oklahoma City Police Department.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Holtzclaw was convicted of eighteen counts involving eight different women. According to the police investigators, Holtzclaw abused his position as an officer by running background checks to find information that could be used to coerce victims into sex. During the trial, the defense questioned the victims' credibility during cross-examination, bringing up their criminal records. Of the thirteen women who accused Holtzclaw, several had criminal histories such as drug arrests, and all of them were African American. The prosecution argued that victims were deliberately chosen by Holtzclaw for these reasons.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Holtzclaw pleaded not guilty to all charges. On December 10, 2015, he was convicted on 18 of 36 charges, and on January 21, 2016, he was sentenced to 263 years in prison.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Jason Flom (a founding Board Member of the Innocence Project), right-wing commentator Michelle Malkin and others have supported Holtzclaw's claims of innocence. On August 1, 2019, Holtzclaw was denied an appeal by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which upheld both his convictions and prison sentence. The defense petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States on the basis that merging seventeen cases together "strains credulity". On March 9, 2020, the Supreme Court refused the petition.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Daniel Holtzclaw was born December 10, 1986, in the U.S. territory Guam, to Eric Holtzclaw and to a Japanese mother, Kumiko Holtzclaw. His father is a lieutenant with the Enid Police Department, approximately north of Oklahoma City. Holtzclaw graduated from Enid High School in 2005. While there he played football as a linebacker, setting a school record for 25 tackles in a game. He played linebacker at Eastern Michigan University, where he graduated with a degree in criminal justice in 2010. After graduating, Holtzclaw unsuccessfully attempted to get drafted into the NFL. Following that, he joined the Oklahoma City Police Department.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting multiple African American women over the period between December 2013 and June 2014, targeting those from a poorer, majority black portion of the city. According to the police investigators, Holtzclaw ran background checks on women with outstanding warrants or other criminal records, and methodically targeted those victims.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: The offense that led to Holtzclaw's arrest happened around 2:00 a.m. on June 18, 2014, after Holtzclaw had already completed his shift on the northeast side of Oklahoma City and was driving to his residence in his assigned police vehicle. During that time, police said, Holtzclaw made a traffic stop without reporting to police dispatch, running a records check on the driver, or revealing that he logged off of his patrol car computer. The driver was Jannie Ligons, a 57-year-old woman who was passing through the impoverished area that police said Holtzclaw was targeting. Unlike other women that police said he had accosted, she was not poor and had no police record. Ligons said that before forcing her to perform oral sex on him, Holtzclaw made her lift her shirt and pull down her pants. She testified that she had begged him to stop and was afraid for her life. Ligons promptly filed a police report.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: When Holtzclaw reported to the OKCPD Springlake Division station the following afternoon for his daily 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift, he was pulled aside and driven to the department's Sex Crimes Unit by detectives Kim Davis and Rocky Gregory for questioning. After being Mirandized, Holtzclaw underwent a two-hour interrogation during which he denied all accusations of misconduct during the Ligons stop earlier that morning, and buccal swabs were taken for DNA comparison. At the conclusion of the interrogation, the two detectives told Holtzclaw that they believed that he was being untruthful based both on previous evidence and on statements made by Kerri Hunt, his 25-year-old cohabiting girlfriend, that countered claims Holtzclaw had made to the detectives. While he was released after the interrogation, Holtzclaw's commission and entry cards, uniform shirt and pants, badges, firearms (handgun and shotgun), radio, and keys to his assigned police vehicle were seized, and he was placed on indefinite paid administrative leave. After further investigation eventually turned up a dozen additional complainants, Holtzclaw was arrested two months later on August 21, 2014, and originally charged with 16 (and eventually 36) counts of sexual abuse offenses including rape in the first and second degrees, sexual battery, procuring lewd exhibition, stalking, and forcible oral sodomy.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: While reviewing Ligons' case, the two sex-crimes detectives remembered a previous report of forced oral sex committed by a police officer. Looking back through police records, the detectives found the report of a woman who said she was stopped in May 2014 and driven to an isolated area by an officer who forced her to perform oral sex. No action had been taken at the time of her report, but when the detectives contacted the woman, she showed them the route that the officer had taken on the night of the attack, and it matched Holtzclaw's GPS route that evening. The detectives then reviewed Holtzclaw's automatically recorded history of running names through the department's two databases, looking specifically for people who had been checked out multiple times, and they contacted those women. In the initial investigation, six women were willing to come forward to testify, and the GPS device on Holtzclaw's patrol car put him at the scene of the alleged incidents. Police records showed that he had called in for a warrant check on all of them. Their investigation covered a six-month period, beginning with the first woman who was willing to come forward, a woman whom Holtzclaw arrested for drug possession in December 2013 and then forced oral sodomy from while she was handcuffed to a hospital bed.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Eventually, the police investigation brought together 13 women who were willing to testify; published reports did not include information on any possible further women who were not willing to testify. The earliest incident discovered was from December 20, 2013, where a woman said she had been arrested for drug possession, was hospitalized, and was forced to give oral sex while she was handcuffed to her hospital bed. She said that he again made sexual advances to her on several occasions after she was released from jail. The woman said that she was led to believe that she would be released if she performed oral sex on Holtzclaw. "I didn't think that no one would believe me," she testified at a pretrial hearing. "I feel like all police will work together."


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: The final jury was an all-white jury which consisted of eight men and four women. Three black men were selected to the first pool of 24 potential jurors but were eventually rejected. The president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP expressed disappointment in the lack of minority jurors.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Holtzclaw, who had been on paid administrative leave until he was charged in August 2014, was fired in January 2015 and his trial began on November 2, 2015. He faced 36 charges, including sexual battery, assault, forcible oral sodomy, and stalking, and pleaded not guilty to all charges.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: In court, prosecutors produced DNA evidence that was found on a triangle-shaped spot on the inside of Holtzclaw's uniform trousers, close to the zipper. After the hearing, his family made a statement that "The facts are that there is no DNA linking him to any of these women as far as was presented in the hearing." According to "The New York Times", the DNA was a match to one of the victims, then aged 17. The DNA that was found was skin DNA; Holtzclaw's DNA was not found in the same area of clothing where the 17-year-old accuser's skin DNA was found. Holtzclaw's defense attorney explained the presence of the skin cells as "secondary transfer" whereby Holtzclaw's hands had possibly come into contact with the woman's skin cells when he searched her purse and later transferred them to the zipper area of his pants. During the trial, Holtzclaw did not contest having encountered the women, but he maintained his innocence. The defense concentrated on the accusers' lifestyles, calling just one witness, a former girlfriend of Holtzclaw's, who testified that he never exhibited sexually aggressive or inappropriate behavior around her.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: On December 10, 2015, he was convicted on 18 of the charges, with the jury recommending that he serve 263 years in prison. Charges included first-degree rape, sexual battery, indecent exposure, stalking, forcible oral sodomy and burglary. He also faced second-degree rape by instrumentation and sexual battery charges. Claiming that evidence was withheld from the defense, Holtzclaw's attorney requested a new trial on January 20, 2016. The request was immediately denied by the judge.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: A statement released by Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty reads, in part: "We are satisfied with the jury's decision and firmly believe justice was served."


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Soon after his sentencing, all of Holtzclaw's information was removed from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) website. The website shows data on a criminal's offense(s), mug shots, and jail location. When asked where Holtzclaw is currently located, ODOC spokesperson Terri Watkins replied, "We are not going to comment, it is a matter of security." It was later confirmed that he was being held under an alias in an undisclosed Oklahoma state prison. Since at least April 2020, the ODOC database lists Holtzclaw as being housed at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center in Lexington, Oklahoma.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: Records show that by mid-May 2022 Holtzclaw had served out the first 3 of his 18 sentences, nominally totaling 18 years.


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: In a unanimous opinion on August 1, 2019, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied Holtzclaw's appeal. The ruling, written by Judge Dana Kuehn, rejected the appellant attorneys' claims of insufficient evidence and of improper procedure for bundling all 36 charges together. The opinion rejected allegations of a "circus atmosphere," noting that the jury returned not guilty verdicts on half of the charges. In his concurrence, Presiding Judge David B. Lewis referred to Holtzclaw as a "sexual predator." In their public condemnation of the ruling, Holtzclaw's family and supporters called Lewis' description a "vicious and false assertion."


title: Daniel Holtzclaw

text: On March 9, 2020, Holtzclaw's petition for a writ of "certiorari" was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States.