Testimony begins in trial of reserve deputy charged in death of suspect
TULSA — Though former Tulsa County reserve deputy Robert Bates announced to other officers that he was about to deploy his stun gun to help subdue a suspect attempting to flee arrest, law enforcement video of the incident shows that the Taser never left Bates’ bulletproof vest.
Instead, then-73-yearold Bates fired a revolver that was already in his hand and shot Eric Harris, who died shortly thereafter.
A Tulsa County prosecutor highlighted that fact in his opening statement in Bates’ trial Wednesday, and jurors saw it for themselves when the defense in its opening statement played the video.
Jurors were told that to find Bates guilty of seconddegree manslaughter, they will have to decide whether Bates was “culpably negligent” in firing his gun when he believed it was his Taser, and whether that gunshot was the “direct and proximate cause” of Harris’ death.
Additionally, they’ll have to decide whether the officers’ impression of the risk posed by Harris was such that it would justify a stress level high enough to explain such a dangerous weapon confusion, Bates’ defense told the jury.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray explained that Harris was the target of a Tulsa County sheriff’s office operation concerning illegal drug and gun sales.
Harris ran from officers after making giving a firearm to undercover sheriff’s deputy Lance Ramsey, a video shown to jurors depicted.
That led to the confrontation with Bates, according to another video shown to jurors.
Bates’ attorney, Clark Brewster, showed the jury an image of Bates’ Taser and revolver side-by-side and said both are within ounces of the same weight and have a similar grip and feel.
“That’s in essence the case,” Brewster told jurors in reference to the weapons confusion that he said explains why Bates shot Harris.
“This is not a mistake that’s unreasonable,” Brewster told jurors. “It’s predictable.”
Brewster said the jury would also hear from medical experts who would testify regarding an autopsy report’s noting a heart condition and methamphetamine intoxication at Harris’ time of death.
Brewster said a medical expert would testify that Harris might not have been killed by the bullet but rather from a heart attack prompted by a heart condition and methamphetamine intoxication, plus the physical strain of running from officers.
Harris’ autopsy report lists the cause of death as gunshot wound of right axilla and homicide as the manner of death.
After opening statements Wednesday, Ramsey was prosecutors’ first witness.
The Tulsa World missed about an hour of prosecutors questioning Ramsey on Wednesday due to court rules limiting when spectators are allowed to enter the courtroom.
The questioning will resume Thursday morning, followed by crossexamination from the defense.