TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A first-degree murder charge has been dropped against a former Tulsa County sheriff's deputy who once supervised the reserve deputy program and complained that he was pressured to approve training for a volunteer deputy now charged with manslaughter.
The Tulsa World reports that the charge against Warren Crittenden was dismissed Thursday. Crittenden was one of four people charged in the Jan. 27 shooting death of Michael Jones at a Tulsa motel and had pleaded not guilty. The charge remains against the other three.
Crittenden supervised the reserve deputy program when Robert Bates was trained. Crittenden said in a 2009 memo that he felt pressured to report Bates was trained despite his belief otherwise.
Bates has pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the April shooting death of an unarmed man.