BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A federal appeals court has ordered a new sentence for an ex-police officer who was convicted of beating a handcuffed man in the back of a patrol car.
Officials said Thursday that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a five-year probationary sentence issued last year for former Birmingham police officer Corey Hooper falls short of the 70 to 87-month prison term federal sentencing guidelines call for.
The 35-year-old Hooper was convicted of using excessive force in the 2007 incident.
The appeals court says Hooper's initial sentence wouldn't adequately deter other police officers from using excessive force.