“…and a day?” Cops are rarely sent to prison, but when they are, the sentence frequently includes one extra day. That’s because in many jurisdictions, prisoners are only eligible for good-time credit and earlier release if their original sentence exceeds a certain length (usually 12 or 24 months).
Thus, adding an extra day to the sentence is a kindness from the judge, and means this cop will be out in a few months.
Honestly at this point it’s a huge win that he was even prosecuted, let alone sentenced. Small victories and all. Plus isn’t he vulnerable to civil suit too?
He would have been just about as vulnerable without being convicted, that is to say not very much. Qualified Immunity is still a large hurdle to get over. Even if you could, almost all jurisdictions only allow suits against cops in their official capacity (paid by the city/county) and not in their individual capacity (paid directly by them).The conviction makes it more likely for a judge or jury to find the officer at fault if it ever makes it to civil trial, but there are still mountains in the way that make that unlikely.