Robert Bates, the 73-year-old reserve sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed an unarmed man last year in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was convicted Wednesday of second-degree manslaughter. Jurors announced the verdict Wednesday, April 27, 2016 in the case.
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The wealthy insurance executive fatally shot Eric Harris a year ago during an illegal gun sales sting.
The defense wanted the jury to consider justifiable or excusable homicide in the shooting death of Eric Harris.
Harris is heard screaming, “He shot me”.
Trauma Dr. Mark Brandenburg testified for the defense that Harris suffered a heart attack caused by elevated adrenaline and a high level of methamphetamine in his system when he was shot. The 2009 internal memo showing favoritism for Bates, despite his lack of training, led to the resignation of the sheriff, Stanley Glanz, according to AP. Bates had claimed that he mistakenly fired his service weapon when he meant to use his stun gun.
The state said Harris “deserved by be chased, tackled, handcuffed, arrested…[but] didn’t deserve to be gunned down by Bates”.
The reserve deputy program under which Bates was deputized has since been discontinued, following an independent review finding a “system-wide failure of leadership and supervision”.
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The incident prompted the suspension of the reserve deputy program, a grand jury investigation of the sheriff’s department and the November 1 resignation of Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz. He resigned on November 1.
