Bates asks court to rehear appeal

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – 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.