Robert Bates (right), the former Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office volunteer deputy on trial for manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of Eric Harris during a sting operation last year, arrives with his wife at the Tulsa County courthouse for motion hearings before his trial begins next week. MICHAEL WYKE/For The Frontier
One day, attorneys in the Robert Bates criminal case will wrangle over whether the 74-year-old former reserve deputy was “culpably negligent” when he shot a tackled, unarmed Eric Harris last year in north Tulsa.
But for now, it’s a perception battle.
Was Harris a violent criminal, capable of attacking or even killing officers who were seeking to arrest him that day, as Bates’ attorney Clark Brewster portrayed him on Tuesday? Were comments made by deputies who pinned a wounded, dying Harris to the ground so inflammatory that jurors should not even be allowed to hear them?
Is it fair to call Harris a victim?
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In what was likely the last public court appearance between prosecutors and attorneys representing Bates before next week’s trial begins, District Judge William Musseman denied prosecutors’ request for a trial delay and ruled over several objections the two sides presented. Some were mundane — was discovery handled correctly by both sides, can the state attempt to interview defense expert witnesses pre-trial? — but several gave a glimpse at what jurors will see and hear when the trial starts.
At the end of the nearly five-hour hearing, Brewster played one of the the now-famous videos of Harris’ death. In it, deputy Ricardo Vaca takes a fleeing Harris to the ground and attempts to wrestle him into submission. Seconds later Bates arrives, announces “Taser! Taser!” then shoots Harris once under the right arm.
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Harris, who was on the ground and had deputy Michael Huckeby’s knee on his head and deputy Joseph Byars twisting his left arm, immediately yelled “He shot me!”
Another 30 seconds or so of video exists, and it appears jurors will see the entire thing. But if Brewster has his way, the audio they hear will cut off after Harris exclaims that he was shot.
That’s because, Brewster argued Tuesday, Byars’ next few statements could taint jurors against Bates. As Harris lay bleeding on the southbound lane of North Harvard Avenue, Byars pinned Harris’ head to the ground and yelled back “You ran motherfucker, you hear me?” and “Shut the fuck up!”
Harris’ last words on the video were “I’m losing my breath,” to which Byars replied, “Fuck your breath.”
Bates, Brewster argued, had nothing to do with those statements, and while he agreed that jurors should see Byars and Huckeby manhandling Harris, they should not hear statements Byars made that could ultimately taint them against Bates.
Musseman indicated he agreed, though he said he would wait to receive a list of sentences Brewster wanted edited out of the video before ruling.
Robert Bates (center), the former Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office volunteer deputy on trial for manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of Eric Harris during a sting operation last year, with his wife (left) and his attorney Clark Brewster at the Tulsa County courthouse during motion hearings in preparation for his trial next week. MICHAEL WYKE/For The Frontier
“I think that there was some statements made on the audio that were very shocking to the people listening to those, and offensive, but they weren’t made by Mr. Bates,” Brewster said following the hearing. “I don’t think the jury should be considering that evidence under those circumstances against Mr. Bates.”
That video, and what will or won’t be clipped from it before it is shown to jurors is part of a perception fight that’s played out ever since the Harris shooting happened, and one that continued in court Tuesday.
For instance, Brewster wanted another undercover video recorded two days before the shooting to be allowed into the trial. In it, deputy Lance Ramsey appears to buy methamphetamine from Harris outside the same Dollar General store where the shooting later took place. Musseman ruled that it would be allowed.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray argued that the video was prejudicial against Harris, since Harris cussed extensively through the video. If Brewster hopes the jury will buy that Harris was a dangerous criminal, Gray argued, a video of him cussing and selling drugs days before the fatal shooting would surely help his case.
Brewster wanted to get pictures of Bates and his family in front of jurors, saying that he wanted only to show them that Bates was a loving, caring family man (Musseman ruled against the request). Likewise, prosecutors want to show jurors a smiling picture of Harris, which Musseman allowed (a motion filed by Bates’ defense stated they wished to object to “unnecessary sympathy photos of Eric Harris.”)
Brewster also complained about prosecutors referring to Harris as “the victim,” saying that it would prejudice the jurors into assuming Bates was guilty.
Bates was quiet on Tuesday, only speaking once on his way to the courtroom, saying “everyone is taking a lot of pictures” as he walked past reporters. Prosecutors were quiet, too, leaving Musseman’s fifth floor courtroom and immediately entering a nearby stairwell, far away from where reporters were stationed.
On Monday, the two sides will meet again with Musseman, and begin selecting jurors from a pool of 65. Testimony is expected to begin next week.
