Tulsa County Sheriff shooting of Eric Harris

[Townsend]

Another Top Sheriff's Official Put on Administrative Leave



http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/another-top-sheriffs-official-put-administrative-leave

A news release from Sheriff Stanley Glanz announces that Major Shannon Clark has been placed on administrative leave with pay, pending further review and evaluation of the job duties and work performance of Major Clark. Chief Deputy Michelle Robinette will assume Clark's administrative duties over operation of the jail and Terry Simonson will assume public information officer responsibilities. It's the latest in a shake up of the Sheriff's Office following the shooting of an unarmed suspect by a reserve deputy. Undersheriff Tim Albin has resigned, and Major Tom Huckeby is also on administrative leave.  Petitioners are seeking signatures for a grand jury investigation of the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff said again today he will not resign.

[carltonplace]

How was the mouthpiece culpable in Bates actions?

[Townsend]

How was the mouthpiece culpable in Bates actions?

Sheriff and Simonson say so?

[Townsend]

Tulsa Volunteer Deputy Cancels Bahamas Trip after Shooting

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/tulsa-volunteer-deputy-cancels-bahamas-trip-after-shooting

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A former Tulsa County volunteer deputy charged with fatally shooting a restrained man has canceled his Bahamas vacation after "he was ridiculed in the national press."

Attorney Corbin Brewster told the Associated Press Tuesday that 73-year-old Robert Bates canceled the June trip because of media "scrutiny and pressure."

Brewster says Bates had been looking forward to the vacation with his grandchildren, which was planned before the April 2 shooting. He says Bates changed his plans in recent days.

Bates has pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter in Eric Harris' killing. He says he confused his stun gun and handgun. Brewster says Bates resigned in the days following the shooting.

During his arraignment in April, a district court judge told Bates he could leave the country for one month.

[Townsend]

Another Member of the Tulsa Sheriff's Top Command is Leaving

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/another-member-tulsa-sheriffs-top-command-leaving-0

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A top administrator in the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office is set to resign after an internal memo was leaked indicating he had covered up the inadequate training of a volunteer deputy who fatally shot a restrained man.

Sheriff's office attorney Meredith Baker said Tuesday that Maj. Tom Huckeby plans to resign on Aug. 1. Baker did not explain why.

Huckeby didn't return requests for comment by the Associated Press. Baker says Huckeby is on vacation.

Reserve deputy Robert Bates fatally shot Eric Harris on April 2. The 2009 memo indicated Huckeby was among department officials who pressured critics to ignore Bates' training deficiencies.

An undersheriff featured in the memo has also stepped down since it was leaked.

[Vashta Nerada]

How was the mouthpiece culpable in Bates actions?

Sex crime investigation.

[Vashta Nerada]

A father and son at the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office who are embroiled in controversy in the aftermath of a fatal shooting by a reserve deputy may have been in violation of a policy that prevents family members from supervising one another.
Maj. Tom Huckeby heads the Uniformed Operations Division of the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. The position gives him oversight of the task forces that his son, Deputy Michael Huckeby, either served on or helped out with, including the Violent Crimes Task Force. That task force conducted the undercover gun deal April 2 that led to Eric Harris’ death.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz told the Tulsa World that he was unaware the younger Huckeby was under his father’s chain of command.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/father-s-line-of-supervision-over-son-at-tulsa-county/article_f892250e-6eb9-5fa1-b811-5c6b3e4053f5.html

[patric]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/city-cease-and-desist-letter-to-county/pdf_c6f8c435-631a-5ad9-a71c-2ea3ace9061e.html

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/tulsaworld.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/6f/c6f8c435-631a-5ad9-a71c-2ea3ace9061e/5553ed04d794c.pdf.pdf

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Wow, and I thought TPD Officers Gary Temple and Will DeMeere were bad apples when they were school resource officers at Hale from 1979 through 1981. Sounds like the tree is being shaken and it won't stop any time soon.

[Conan71]

They ran a story on KRMG morning news that the TCSO (or the sheriff) is threatening a libel suit against the originators of the petition to bring a grand jury investigation.  I could not find reference to it online, but it did come up on a Google search from KFAQ.  So much for the right to petition for a redress of grievances without repercussion.  Every day, the picture painted of Glanz is much darker and shows a man who seems disconnected with reality and the law.

Sheriff Prepared to Take Legal Action if False Allegations Made in Petition

Tulsa (KFAQ) - The Tulsa County Sheriff is prepared to take legal action in accordance with state law if any of the allegations made in a petition to impanel a grand jury to oust him are proven false or made with malice or with an ulterior or illicit purpose.

The department's  director of governmental affairs and a spokesperson for the sheriff responded to KFAQ Friday after a judge's ruling that a community activist calling for the ouster of Sheriff Stanley Glanz may move forward to the next step in impaneling a grand jury.

Terry Simonson told KFAQ the first hurdle in a grand jury process is "very low."

"The judge's approval in no way signals any merit to the claims or the truthfulness of them," said Simonson, who added that the real "heavy lifting" is yet to come.

"That is, getting 5,000 signatures to impanel a jury and then a 12-member jury to find criminal charges are warranted," said Simonson. "We are confident that once all of the truth is presented there will be no basis for any criminal charges."

Simonson pointed to state statute governing petitions for grand jury investigations, which states, "Any person responsible for the creation, drafting or circulating of a grand jury petition may be held liable for civil damages for libel or slander due to any false allegation made in the body of said petition, if such allegations are proven to be made with malice and with an ulterior or illicit purpose."

"If any of the allegations that are leveled against the Sheriff are false and brought with malice as these are," said Simonson, "he has civil recourse with either a libel or slander charge brought against the petitioners which the Sheriff would be prepared to do."

Community organizer Marq Lewis, a leader of the group We the People, filed for a petition to impanel a grand jury to oust Glanz earlier this week. His attorney, Laurie Phillips, told Marla Carter of 2 Works for You, she is not worried about meeting the threshold.

District Court Judge Rebecca Nightingale signed an Order of Sufficiency on Friday, stating Lewis met the requirements to proceed with the next step in the grand jury process.



The court found:

The face of the petition contains reasonably specific identification of the areas on inquiry; and
The face of the petition contains general allegations sufficient to warrant a finding that such inquiry may lead to information which, if true, would warrant a true bill of indictment.
Lewis now has 45 days to meet the next requirement in the grand jury process, which is to collect the legal signatures of 16 percent as many citizens as the last gubernatorial electorate, not to exceed 5,000 signatures.

Glanz has stated repeatedly he does not intend to step down in his seventh term as Tulsa County's sheriff.

(Copyright KFAQ. All rights reserved.)

[swake]

They ran a story on KRMG morning news that the TCSO (or the sheriff) is threatening a libel suit against the originators of the petition to bring a grand jury investigation.  I could not find reference to it online, but it did come up on a Google search from KFAQ.  So much for the right to petition for a redress of grievances without repercussion.  Every day, the picture painted of Glanz is much darker and shows a man who seems disconnected with reality and the law.

Anything that Terry Simonson is involved with automatically has a pretty thick layer of slime on it.

[cynical]

In addition to the sleaze that oozes from Simonson's statements, he completely misses the point of the grand jury investigation by focusing only on its power to return criminal indictments. The grand jury was sought in order to seek ouster of the Sheriff, something that doesn't require proof of a crime.

He also slides over the extremely high burden the Sheriff would have to sue the petitioners for defamation. As a public figure, he would have to prove that the petitioners made statements that were (1) false, (2), damaging, and (3), made with actual knowledge that the statements were false or with reckless disregard for the truth of the statements. State law cannot overrule NY Times v. Sullivan. This burden is so high that public officials have generally given up trying to sue for defamation. Perhaps no one has told Simonsson about that.

No statement I have heard so far about the Sheriff satisfies this standard. This is a transparent attempt to stifle the 1st Amendment rights of the petitioners and to discourage citizens from signing the petition.

What is emerging from this escalating series of disclosures is that the voters of Tulsa County elected yet another politician to retire on the job, leaving his department to behave like Animal Farm, with apologies to George Orwell. All of this stuff happening within his department, much of it involving his closest advisors, and he knew nothing.

They ran a story on KRMG morning news that the TCSO (or the sheriff) is threatening a libel suit against the originators of the petition to bring a grand jury investigation.  I could not find reference to it online, but it did come up on a Google search from KFAQ.  So much for the right to petition for a redress of grievances without repercussion.  Every day, the picture painted of Glanz is much darker and shows a man who seems disconnected with reality and the law.

[DolfanBob]

Looks like the National press is going with the he was high on Meth story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3081506/Eric-Harris-high-METH-fatally-shot.html

[patric]

Looks like the National press is going with the he was high on Meth story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3081506/Eric-Harris-high-METH-fatally-shot.html

...which doesnt help TCSO's credibility when they swore that Harris "confessed to being on PCP" at a time when he was unconscious and intubated.

As for suing the petitioners, Its my understanding that the process grants the petitioners a degree of immunity from libel (much like speaking on the floor of the house or senate does) by having to prove malice.
"If any of the allegations that are leveled against the Sheriff are false and brought with malice as these are," seems a lot like the pot calling the kettle black.

Good thing the voters approved more jail funding so it can be spent on legal fees pursuing this.
https://medium.com/@readfrontier/frontier-exclusive-sheriff-paid-outside-attorneys-700-000-from-jail-fund-to-defend-civil-rights-81d4c0d33bfb?source=latest

[swake]

...which doesnt help TCSO's credibility when they swore that Harris "confessed to being on PCP" at a time when he was unconscious and intubated.

As for suing the petitioners, Its my understanding that the process grants the petitioners a degree of immunity from libel, much like speaking on the floor of the house or senate does.  Good thing the voters approved more jail funding so it can be spent on legal fees pursuing this.
https://medium.com/@readfrontier/frontier-exclusive-sheriff-paid-outside-attorneys-700-000-from-jail-fund-to-defend-civil-rights-81d4c0d33bfb?source=latest

Is PCP even a drug that exists in Tulsa?