The trial of Alexander Pring-Wilson ended yesterday with the conviction of the ex-Harvard grad student for voluntary manslaughter, but in the court of public opinion, the jury is still hung.

Friends of Pring-Wilson characterized the six- to eight-year prison sentence handed down yesterday as draconian, while residents of the neighborhood where the fatal stabbing occurred said the defendant got off easy.

Meanwhile, legal experts who tracked the case dissected prosecutors’ and defense attorneys’ every move.

Natalia Pokrovsky, a Slavic Language preceptor who taught Pring-Wilson, said she fears for his safety in jail.

“I don’t know if he’ll be raped in prison or sitting with murderers,” she said.

But the family of the victim—Michael D. Colono, who was 18 at the time of his death—were also distraught.

Leaning on her daughters for support, an emotional Ada Colono, mother of the victim, broke into sobs after the verdict.

“I have a lot of anger [at] society’s views and stereotypes of a young Hispanic man,” said Damaris Colono, sister of the victim, to the judge at sentencing. “Just because you’re raised a rich white boy who is smart doesn’t mean you’re not capable of making a stupid decision.”

HEARD ON THE STREET

In the blocks around the Cambridge street corner where the stabbing took place, reaction to the verdict was decidedly mixed.

Casey B. Gane, who taught Colono’s eighth-grade class at Graham and Parks School, said he was pleased with the verdict. He said the prosecution’s request for a first-degree homicide conviction seemed excessively severe.

“He took a life, and a life can’t ever be brought back,” Gane said, “but murder one wouldn’t have been fair because it wasn’t premeditated.”

Steps away from the crime scene, Pring-Wilson elicited less sympathy.

“He was a Harvard student. He was supposed to be studying. He wasn’t supposed to be drinking,” said 12-year old Ivan Pena. “They’re supposed to give him at least a life sentence—or a death sentence,” Pena added.

Gane noted that Pring-Wilson’s privileged background meant he was able to hire high-priced defense attorneys, while a working-class Hispanic male in the same situation might have only had a court-appointed lawyer. “If Colono stabbed Pring-Wilson, Colono might be doing life right now,” Gane said.