A Colorado appeals court ruled Thursday that two emergency medical workers convicted in connection with Elijah McClain’s death must face a new trial, overturning their homicide convictions due to flawed jury instructions.
McClain, who worked as a massage therapist and was 23 years old, encountered police in Aurora, located near Denver, during 2019 following a call about allegedly suspicious activity. Law enforcement officers restrained him using a chokehold technique, while emergency medical personnel Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec administered what authorities determined was an inappropriately large amount of ketamine. McClain subsequently died from his injuries.
The tragic incident led to significant changes in Colorado’s law enforcement practices, most notably legislation prohibiting the use of chokeholds by police.
Both Cooper and Cichuniec faced conviction for criminally negligent homicide in 2023. Thursday’s ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals overturned these convictions due to problems with how the jury was instructed, though the court maintained Cichuniec’s conviction on a separate charge of second-degree felony assault.
Cooper received his sentence in 2024, consisting of 14 months in a work-release facility plus four years under probation supervision.
Cichuniec gained early release from incarceration in 2024 when a judge modified his original sentence to four years of probation.
Legal representatives for McClain’s mother and both paramedics did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case against three police officers resulted in mixed verdicts from a jury.
Randy Roedema received a guilty verdict for criminally negligent homicide while Jason Rosenblatt was acquitted of both manslaughter and assault charges.
A third officer, Nathan Woodyard, was cleared of manslaughter charges.
