Tulsa DA: Outside agencies may investigate Sheriff's Office

The Tulsa County District Attorney's Office now says the investigation into a fatal shooting of a suspect by a reserve deputy may lead to a wider investigation.

D.A. Steve Kunzweiler's office sent the following statement to KRMG Friday afternoon:

The Tulsa County District Attorney's Office has requested and received many documents from the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office in the wake of the April 2 shooting of Eric Harris. 

The DA has filed Second-Degree Manslaughter charges against Robert Charles Bates, 73, a TCSO reserve deputy in the shooting death of Eric Courtney Harris, 44. "The defendant is presumed to be innocent under the law but we will be prepared to present evidence at future court hearings," DA Steve Kunzweiler said.

"The District Attorney's Office is not an investigative agency," Kunzweiler said. "Our office reviews facts and evidence based on investigations by law enforcement and reviews Oklahoma law to determine whether a criminal charge should be filed in (state) District Court.

New information has been submitted to this office regarding actions in the Sheriff's Office that are worthy of further investigation beyond the scope of the manslaughter case.  "I am highly concerned about recent allegations that have surfaced and I have been in contact with independent law enforcement agencies regarding further investigation into these matters. To protect the integrity of these investigations, I will not give details or comment further on any investigation that is underway," Kunzweiler said.

KRMG has obtained nearly 300 pages of documents pertaining to Bates' career as a reserve deputy.

Specifically, an investigation conducted internally by TCSO in 2009 found that policy had been violated "with regard to special treatment shown to Reserve Deputy Robert Bates with regard to his field training and...employees were intimidated to fail to adhere to policies in a manner which benefits Reserve Deputy Bates."

KRMG can not independently verify the origin of these documents.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz has stated such an investigation took place, though he said he believed it resulted in a finding of no favoritism.