The third and final trial over the 2019 death of Elijah McClain enters largely uncharted legal territory, according to experts, because it involves homicide and manslaughter charges against two paramedics, Colleen Slevin and Mathew Brown reports for the Associated Press. Aurora, Colorado Fire Department paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec arrived and injected McClain with the powerful sedative ketamine after he had been placed in a neck hold by police. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Defense attorneys at a November court hearing indicated they plan to blame police for McClain’s death during a trial expected to last most of December. The case will be the first of several recent criminal charges against medical first responders to reach trial and could “set the bar” for prosecutors in future cases. Cooper and Cichuniec face felony charges of manslaughter, negligent homicide and several counts each of assault. An emergency room doctor who has worked as a paramedic said Cooper and Cichuniec’s actions fell significantly below the level of care expected and that they did not examine him before the ketamine injection and did not monitor him afterward.
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