“Anytime you go through something like this, no matter what your defenses are or what you think is right or wrong in connection with what happened, you certainly come away with an important and tremendous lesson that helps you go forward,” Brewster said.

Attorney Dan Smolen, whose law firm represents the Harris family in its lawsuit against Bates, lamented in a statement on the former reserve deputy’s serving less than half of his sentence.

“He is being released in time to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with his family. He is being released as Eric Harris’s family continues to mourn his death,” Smolen said. “Nevertheless, Mr. Bates has not been released from the clasp of justice.

“Now that Mr. Bates is out of prison, it is our expectation that the civil rights suit filed against him and former Sheriff Glanz will finally begin to intensify.”

Attempts by the Tulsa World on Thursday to contact Andre Harris, Eric Harris’ brother, were unsuccessful.

In the lawsuit, Eric Harris’ estate alleges that Bates was improperly trained and supervised. The lawsuit accuses Glanz of turning a “blind eye to these dangers … to allow his friend and financial benefactor to ‘play cop’ in the streets of Tulsa County.”