ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — Jurors Thursday convicted an Aurora police officer of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault and acquitted another in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing.
The 12-person jury found Aurora Officer Randy Roedema, who is currently suspended, guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. Former Aurora Police Officer Jason Rosenblatt, who was fired by the department less than a year after McClain’s death, was acquitted of all charges in connection with the fatal arrest on Aug. 24, 2019.
McClain was stopped in Aurora while walking home from a store wearing a face mask after a 911 caller reported a “sketchy” man in the neighborhood that night. McClain was put in a neck hold and pinned down by police before being injected by paramedics with a powerful sedative.
That neck hold, which lasted only seconds, was at the center of the case. But ketamine administration by paramedics was argued by the defense as the “ultimate cause of death here.”
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Defense attorneys for the first two officers to go on trial closed their case Friday without calling any witnesses. During closing arguments Tuesday, they disputed the prosecution’s assertions that the defendants used excessive force and disregarded signs that McClain was in medical distress. Defense attorney Don Sisson claimed Roedema used “reasonable and efficient force” and McClain died from a ketamine overdose.
“In this case, there is no evidence Roedema caused Mr. McClain’s death. Zero. All three medical experts say it was ketamine that killed him,” Sisson told the jury. Defense attorney Harvey Steinberg echoed the same argument for his client, Rosenblatt, and claimed the prosecution is using his client as a scapegoat.
Prosecutors spent two weeks painting a picture of excessive force by officers who used a neck hold and pinned McClain to the ground after stopping him as he walked home along a street.
Special Assistant Attorney General Duane Lyons argued during closing statements that if not for the actions of Roedema and Rosenblatt, McClain would still be alive. He told the jury that McClain was in respiratory distress before the ketamine was administered and its use was encouraged by the defendants.
“Officers never checked vitals and failed to inform paramedics of McClain’s condition,” Lyons told the jury.
The district attorney initially did not to pursue criminal charges, but the case was re-examined in 2020, resulting in a criminal indictment and becoming a rallying cry for protests against police brutality against Black people following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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Aurora Chief of Police Art Acevedo released a statement shortly after the verdict was read in court, saying, in part, “We respect the verdict handed down by the jury, and thank the members of the jury for their thoughtful deliberation and service.”
Alec Oughton, the fire chief for Aurora Fire Rescue, said, in part: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this event. The stress they have suffered over the past four years as they seek healing and closure is unimaginable.”
A third Aurora officer, Nathan Woodyard, who put the 23-year-old in a carotid hold, is set to go to trial beginning Friday. Paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec are scheduled for trial in November.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF THE TRIAL:
Day 1 – Wednesday, Sept. 20
Day 2 – Thursday, Sept. 21
Day 3 – Friday, Sept. 22
(No court on Monday, Sept. 25)
Day 4 – Tuesday, Sept. 26
Day 5 – Wednesday, Sept. 27
Day 6 – Thursday, Sept. 28
Day 7 – Friday, Sept. 29
Day 8- Tuesday, Oct. 3
Day 9- Wednesday, Oct. 4
Day 10- Thursday, Oct. 5
Day 11- Friday, Oct. 6
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