© 2024 Public Radio Tulsa
800 South Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
(918) 631-2577

A listener-supported service of The University of Tulsa
classical 88.7 | public radio 89.5
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Glanz Wants State Supreme Court to Block Probe

File photo

The Oklahoma Supreme Court says it will consider whether to stop a grand jury investigation into an embattled sheriff whose longtime friend and volunteer deputy fatally shot an unarmed man.

On Thursday — for the second time this week — the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office went to court to thwart the probe. Attorneys for Sheriff Stanley Glanz want justices to toss out a lower court's decision to empanel a grand jury July 20. The Supreme Court late Thursday appointed a referee to hear evidence and arguments for it on July 14.

More than 6,600 Tulsa residents petitioned for the investigation. Glanz's lawyers say some of signatures were gathered improperly and that the petition should be tossed.

A district judge Tuesday rejected Glanz's claims and ordered the grand jury to meet.

Attorneys for the family of Eric Harris, the man killed by former volunteer Bob Bates earlier this year responded to Glanz's latest legal move with a statement. They called Glanz’s efforts to halt the grand jury process "extraordinary."

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.