Secret recording captures conversation with volunteer deputy [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Secret recording captures conversation with volunteer deputy
By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press | April 28, 2015 | Updated: April 28, 2015 4:23pm



OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Embroiled in a legal battle over the sale of his insurance company, Robert Bates met a former colleague at a restaurant to discuss the court case over drinks.

But Bates, the volunteer Tulsa County deputy now facing a manslaughter charge for shooting an unarmed suspect, did not know the 2012 conversation was being secretly recorded by his companion, Bryan Berman, the company's new president.

During the exchange, Bates boasted of his connections in the sheriff's department and the U.S. attorney's office and suggested he could make life miserable for the plaintiffs.

The audio recording, obtained by The Associated Press from the court file of a federal case that was later dismissed, reveals the corporate executive as a man who bragged about using his position in the sheriff's office to help powerful friends and whose work as a reserve deputy added a spark to his life.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Secret-recording-captures-conversation-with-6228778.php