TULSA, Okla.— Prosecutors said Friday that they won't file new criminal charges against a former Oklahoma sheriff who has faced scrutiny since a reserve deputy fatally shot an unarmed black man last year.
Former Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz already had been sentenced in July to a one-year suspended term on misdemeanor charges stemming from a separate grand jury investigation. Robert Bates, the former volunteer deputy who shot Eric Harris, has been sentenced to four years in prison for second-degree manslaughter.
Special prosecutor Rob Barris' announcement that Glanz will face no further charges stems from an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation probe into misconduct allegations that began after the April 2015 fatal shooting of Eric Harris.
After the shooting, questions arose about the county's reserve deputy program and about Bates' training and whether he received special treatment from Glanz, who was a longtime friend. Bates said he mistook his handgun for a stun gun when he shot a restrained Harris during an illegal gun sales sting. The reserve deputy program was shuttered and partially revived earlier this year.
The prosecutor said in a statement: "Based upon the (state bureau of investigation) report and the previous actions taken by the grand jury in 2015, no further action is required and this office determines this matter to be closed."
Dan Smolen, an attorney for the Harris family, said Barris' decision not to levy charges against Glanz means that "justice did not prevail."