San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Officers, EMTs accused in death plead not guilty
DENVER — The five police officers and paramedics accused of killing Elijah McClain, a young Black man who had been walking home when he was stopped by police in Aurora, were formally arraigned in a Colorado district court, more than three years after his death.
The indicted defendants all entered pleas of not guilty Friday and face trials in a case that drew national attention and became part of the larger racial justice movement after the murder of George Floyd.
McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, was put in a chokehold by police and injected with a powerful sedative by paramedics during a violent encounter Aug. 24, 2019. He suffered cardiac arrest and died a few days later.
The stop was based on a 911 call about a suspicious person who was wearing a face mask and waving his arms. Police confronted McClain, who was unarmed and not suspected of committing any crimes.
In the initial autopsy by the Adams County coroner, the cause and manner of death were reported as undetermined. The autopsy was amended after a review of information presented to the grand jury. The new cause of death was listed as “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.” The manner remained undetermined.
Months after McClain’s death, Adams County prosecutors, citing insufficient evidence, declined to file criminal charges against the police and paramedics. Attorney General Phil Weiser, who was named a special prosecutor by Gov. Jared Polis, later opened an investigation that resulted in a 32-count indictment in September 2021.
Weiser’s office also started a probe into Aurora Police and Aurora Fire Rescue. Among the findings, the investigation’s report said the police department had a pattern and practice of racially biased policing and use of excessive force — which resulted in an agreement with the city of Aurora to accept oversight from a monitor to improve policing and public safety.
In 2021, the city of Aurora settled a civil suit filed by McClain’s parents for $15 million.
Last week, a judge ordered three separate trials for the defendants, each of whom faces multiple felony charges including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper will be tried together, as will officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt.
A separate proceeding will be held for officer Nathan Woodyard, who authorities say administered the chokehold.
Rosenblatt was fired from the police department for his involvement with a photo of police officers reenacting the chokehold near McClain’s memorial site. The two other officers charged were suspended without pay.
Attorneys for the defendants requested a continuance of the arraignment to review information, but District Judge Mark Douglas Warner declined, saying “We need to get these cases on track.”
McClain’s death did not receive national coverage until after the murder of Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. McClain’s case drew the spotlight, with his name chanted by protesters in the coast-tocoast movement against racism and police brutality.