TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A former volunteer sheriff’s deputy in Oklahoma who was convicted last week of fatally shooting an unarmed and restrained man wants to be released from jail on bond while waiting to be sentenced.
Court records show that a judge will consider the request for former Tulsa County Sheriff’s reserve deputy Robert Bates at a hearing on Tuesday.
Bates was convicted Wednesday of fatally shooting Eric Harris during an illegal gun sales sting last year. Moments after the conviction, Bates was booked into jail.
Jurors recommended that Bates serve four years in prison, and the 74-year-old insurance executive is due for sentencing May 31.
Harris’ killing prompted a grand jury investigation of the sheriff’s office and the indictment and resignation of Sheriff Stanley Glanz, who was a close friend of Bates.
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