Published: January 30, 2007 11:46 pm         

Kingfisher County prosecutor takes on ‘video vigilante’ case

A Kingfisher County prosecutor has been appointed to handle the pandering case against self-proclaimed “video vigilante” Brian Bates and his wife.

Bates and his wife, Vickie, are accused of paying prostitutes to lure clients into areas where he could film them.

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater disqualified himself to avoid any appearance of impropriety in the case against Bates, who openly endorsed Prater in last November’s election and was a vocal critic of Prater’s predecessor, Wes Lane.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson appointed District Attorney Cathy Stocker, of Enid, as Prater’s replacement. Stocker then assigned the case to Bryan Slabotsky, who runs her office in Kingfisher County.

This is the second time Stocker’s office has been asked to review a case involving the “video vigilante.”

Stocker’s office also was assigned to investigate whether Bates broke any laws in September when he allegedly handed out fliers critical of Lane to prospective jurors at Oklahoma County District Court.

“Last week, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater recused his office from continuing the prosecution of Brian Bates on charges that had been filed by former District Attorney Wes Lane before Prater took office,” Stocker said. “The attorney general has now appointed me to take over the prosecution of those pending cases. I have assigned the pending cases to my Kingfisher County assistant district attorney, Bryan Slabotsky, a capable experienced prosecutor.”

Stocker said prosecutors will review all the files in the case before making any decisions.

“Although I have reviewed the investigative materials provided to me by the attorney general and Wes Lane regarding the original matter assigned to me,” Stocker said, “no final decision will be made until after Bryan Slabotsky completes a review of all of the pending cases.”



Staff writer Cass Rains contributed to this story.