Colorado court orders retrial for paramedics in Elijah McClain case

June 4 (Reuters) – An appeals court in the U.S. state of Colorado on Thursday ordered a retrial of two paramedics convicted over the death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who was pinned down by police and injected with a powerful sedative.

McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, was stopped by officers in Aurora, a Denver suburb, in 2019 after a report of suspicious behavior. Officers placed him in a neck hold, and paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec injected him with an excessive dose of ketamine. He later died.

The case inspired police reforms in Colorado, including a ban on chokeholds.

Cooper and Cichuniec were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in 2023. The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed those convictions on Thursday, citing errors in the jury instructions, but upheld Cichuniec’s separate conviction for second-degree felony assault.

Cooper was sentenced in 2024 to 14 months in a work-release program, and four years of probation.

Cichuniec was released early from prison in 2024 after a judge reduced his sentence to four years of probation.

Attorneys representing McClain’s mother and the two paramedics did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A jury came to a split verdict for three officers in the case. 

Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide while Jason Rosenblatt was found not guilty on manslaughter and assault charges.

Another police officer, Nathan Woodyard, was found not guilty of manslaughter.

(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)