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Elijah McClain died after a police stop and ketamine injection. Now, 2 officers are on trial

A makeshift memorial includes multiple pieces of art depicting Elijah McClain and a vase of flowers.
David Zalubowski
/
AP
A makeshift memorial stands at a site across the street from where Elijah McClain was stopped by Aurora, Colo., Police Department officers while walking home, before family members hold a news conference, Friday, July 3, 2020, in Aurora, Colo. Four years after Elijah McClain died after being stopped by police in Colorado, two of the police officers charged in his death are set to go on trial. Prosecutors are expected to present opening statements Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in the trial of Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt on manslaughter, criminally negligent reckless homicide and assault charges. They, a third officer and two paramedics were indicted in 2021 by a state grand jury convened following an outcry over McClain’s death.

The trial of two suburban Denver police officers was set to open Wednesday in the killing of Elijah McClain, a Black man put in a neck hold and injected with a powerful sedative whose 2019 death later became a rallying cry for nationwide protests and spurred police reform in Colorado.

Defendant Jason Rosenblatt walks, wearing a navy blue suit.
Jack Dempsey
/
AP
Defendant Jason Rosenblatt walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of the Elijah McClain trial Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton, Colo. The trial is expected to open soon against two police officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was forcibly detained while walking down a street near Denver.

In the first of several trials stemming from the death of McClain, lawyers for the two sides are expected to paint contrasting pictures of the deadly struggle between the officers and the 23-year-old massage therapist. McClain was stopped by police in the city of Aurora while walking home from a convenience store carrying only a plastic bag and his phone.

One question jurors could be asked to decide is whether it was lawful for officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt to detain and use force against McClain, who a 911 caller reported as suspicious. If prosecutors can convince jurors the stop was unjustified, that would undermine any argument that McClain's injuries were a result of the officers just doing their jobs.

Defendant Randy Roedema walks while looking downward. He is wearing a black suit and carrying a notebook in his left hand.
Jack Dempsey
/
AP
Defendant Randy Roedema walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo.

Officials eventually determined the sedative ketamine that was administered to McClain played a key role in his death, which fueled renewed scrutiny about the use of ketamine and led Colorado's health department to limit when emergency workers can use it. In 2020, neck holds by police were banned by the state's Democratic-led Legislature.

Selection of the 12-member jury and two alternates was set to wrap up Wednesday, after which prosecutors would deliver opening arguments. The trial is expected to last about a month.

The jury appeared to be mostly white. Among the potential jurors removed at the request of defense attorneys was a man who said he'd been racially profiled and a woman who identified herself as Hispanic and said her husband was singled out for arrest in a conflict with white people. Potential jurors removed by the prosecution included the daughter of a police officer who said officers aren't being supported by society and a former EMT who witnessed people being given ketamine.

Roedema and Rosenblatt are both charged with criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter and assault. They have pleaded not guilty but have never spoken publicly about the allegations against them. A third officer and two paramedics are charged in McClain's death and are scheduled for trial later this year.

Charges were not brought for two years after McClain's death, by which time the case had sparked outrage and a national reckoning had begun over racial injustice in American policing after the murder of George Floyd by officers in Minneapolis. Police body camera captured McClain pleading with the officers, saying "I'm an introvert" and "I'm just different," and telling them "I'm sorry."

In 2019, a local district attorney, Dave Young, called McClain's death "tragic" but decided against prosecuting the officers largely because the coroner's office could not determine exactly how McClain died.

Demonstrators carry a giant black placard with a photo of Elijah McClain on it and the words "Justice for Elijah McClain" written in white in a public plaza setting with other demonstrators visible scattered in the background.
David Zalubowski
/
AP
In this June 27, 2020, photo, demonstrators carry a giant placard during a rally and march over the death of Elijah McClain outside the police department in Aurora, Colo. Prosecutors are expected to present opening statements Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in the trial of Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt on manslaughter, criminally negligent reckless homicide and assault charges. They, a third officer and two paramedics were indicted in 2021 by a state grand jury convened following an outcry over McClain’s death.

A revised coroner's report was issued in 2021, relying in part on information from a grand jury investigation. It found the cause of death was complications from the sedative after McClain, who weighed 140 pounds, overdosed because he received a higher dose than recommended for someone of his size, pathologist Stephen Cina found.

"I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine," Cina had said.

Cina said he couldn't rule out whether the stress of being held down by the officers may have contributed to McClain's death.

Police stopped McClain on Aug. 24, 2019, after a 911 caller reported a man who seemed "sketchy." McClain, who was often cold, was wearing a ski mask and a jacket despite the warm weather.

Officer Nathan Woodyard, who is set to go on trial later this year, was the first to approach McClain and was soon joined by Roedema and Rosenblatt.

Sheneen McClain, mother of Elijah McClain, looks on wearing a black cap, glasses and a dark green shirt with a black purse strap visible across her chest.
Jack Dempsey
/
AP
Sheneen McClain, mother of Elijah McClain, looks on outside the courtroom at the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo.

McClain, using earbuds, initially kept walking. Within 10 seconds, Woodyard put his hands on McClain, turning him around. As McClain tried to escape his grip, Woodyard said, "Relax, or I'm going to have to change this situation."

The encounter quickly escalated, with officers taking him to the ground and putting him in a neck hold. Paramedics arrived and injected McClain with ketamine, which was legal at the time to give to people showing erratic behavior. McClain suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. He was pronounced dead three days later.

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