March 09, 2018 - 12:43 PM
TULSA, Okla. - The Latest on a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by a white former reserve deputy in Oklahoma (all times local):
2:40 p.m.
An Oklahoma county is paying $6 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by a white former sheriff's reserve deputy.
The settlement between Tulsa County and the estate of Eric Harris was filed Friday. Harris was shot in April 2015 by ex-volunteer sheriff's deputy Robert Bates.
The 76-year-old Bates was released from prison in October after serving less than half of a four-year sentence for second-degree manslaughter.
Sheriff Vic Regalado said in a statement he believes the settlement will allow the Harris family to heal.
An attorney for Harris' family says his legacy brings hope for "some measure of justice and accountability" when a law officer "violates the rights and takes the life of an African-American citizen."
___
9:40 a.m.
A white former reserve deputy who was convicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man has asked the Oklahoma Court of Appeals to rehear an appeal he lost.
Attorneys for Robert Bates say in a Wednesday filing that in its ruling last month upholding Bates' second-degree manslaughter conviction, the court adopted an "unworkable standard" that excludes the consideration of special standards that apply to professionals such as Bates.
The filing, which was first reported by the Tulsa World, also contends that the court made a factual error by ruling that Bates didn't ask for the trial judge to instruct the jury about the rules governing the use of force by police officers.
Bates was a Tulsa County reserve deputy when he fatally shot Eric Harris in Tulsa during undercover investigation in 2015.
Bates said he mistook his handgun for his stun gun.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018