Denver (AP) — A Colorado Court of Appeals has overturned the criminally negligent homicide convictions of two Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics who injected 23‑year‑old Elijah McClain with a lethal dose of ketamine during a 2019 arrest.
McClain was walking home from a convenience store when three Aurora police officers saw him waving arms. An officer placed him in a neck hold, and paramedics Dr. Maria Cichuniec and Richard Cooper administered a 200‑mg ketamine dose. The patient suffered cardiac arrest and died three days later after life support was removed.
The first trial held him guilty for criminally negligent homicide after the court found the paramedics had failed to check McClain’s pulse, failed to monitor him after the injection, and gave too large a dose for his body weight. Cichuniec was sentenced to five years, later reduced to four years probation; Cooper received 14 months jail with work release and probation.
On Thursday, the appellate court said the instructions given to jurors on the standard of care paramedics must observe were insufficient. It held that a “reasonable person” interpretation had not been properly explained and therefore the verdicts were liable for reversal. The case is now remanded for a new trial at the trial court level, though the state attorney general plans an appeal that could postpone proceedings.
The broader impact
Keystone’s decision sends the decision back to a separate level, opening up new questions about how EMS personnel should handle patients in police custody. Some first‑responder unions argue that criminal charges create a chilling effect on paramedics, making them wary of stepping in during police holds and potentially reducing the availability of trained responders.
Experts note that the case has already driven changes in other states. Many EMS agencies have revised protocols to limit or ban the use of ketamine on potentially violent or agitated patients.
Activists see the overturned conviction as another blow that prevents healing of the same communities that suffered from McClain’s death. “We cannot let a Black man’s killing be treated differently from a white man’s,” said MiDian Shofner, CEO of the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, in an activation statement.
Legal context
Colorado’s criminally negligent homicide law requires EMS providers to uphold the “standard of care” that a reasonable person would in circumstances involving patient care. The appellate judges’ criticism is that the trial judge failed to clarify this concept to jurors, letting them possibly convict without fully understanding the standard.
With the new trials pending and the state’s possible appeal, the case may set a precedent for how paramedics are treated in court when their medical actions intersect with law‑enforcement interventions. It also underscores the broader debate about the use of sedation to subdue suspects, a practice that remains controversial across the country.
Brown reported from Billings, Montana, while Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado.
