OKLA RESERVE DEPUTY CONVICTED IN KILLING OF UNARMED BLACK SUSPECT

A former Oklahoma volunteer sheriff's deputy who said he mistook his handgun for his stun gun when he fatally shot an unarmed suspect last year was convicted of second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday.
Jurors handed down the verdict in the case of 74-year-old Robert Bates, a wealthy insurance executive accused of fatally shooting Eric Harris while working with Tulsa County sheriff's deputies last year during an illegal gun sales sting. Harris, who had run from deputies, was restrained and unarmed when he was shot.

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Federal inquiry launched into the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office

Recent allegations about the special treatment of Robert Bates, 73, has led to a federal inquiry into the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office. Bates th...

The shooting -- which was caught on video -- sparked several investigations that, among other things, revealed an internal 2009 memo questioning Bates' qualifications as a volunteer deputy and showed that Bates, a close friend of the sheriff's, had donated thousands of dollars in cash, vehicles and equipment to the agency.
Bates faces up to four years in prison.
Bates' defense attorneys argued at trial that methamphetamine found in Harris' system, along with his cardiac health, caused his death. Defense attorneys called the killing an "excusable homicide."

A lot of things need to be done to deal with these type of problems.  Accountability is one of them and this conviction seems to be part of a trend to get serious.