An appeals court in Colorado on Thursday reversed the homicide convictions of two paramedics in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was pinned down by police and died after being injected with ketamine.
The Colorado Court of Appeals also ordered new trials for Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper, citing errors in jury instructions related to the charge.
In 2023, a jury found Mr. Cichuniec guilty of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault. That same jury found Mr. Cooper guilty of criminally negligent homicide but not guilty of second-degree assault.
The appeals court on Thursday upheld Mr. Chichuniec’s conviction for second-degree assault.
Mr. McClain, then 23, a massage therapist, was heading home from a convenience store in Aurora, Colo., in 2019 when he was confronted by police, who were responding to a report of a suspicious person. The officers placed Mr. McClain in a chokehold, which has since been banned in that city and other police departments.
At the scene, Mr. Cichuniec and Mr. Cooper injected him with what was described as a “therapeutic” dose of ketamine, a powerful sedative. Mr. McClain went into cardiac arrest on his way to the hospital and died several days later.
Following their convictions, Mr. Cichuniec was sentenced to five years in prison. A judge later reduced his punishment to four years of probation, citing “‘unusual and extenuating circumstances” in the case. Mr. Cooper avoided prison time.
Lawyers representing Mr. Cichuniec and Mr. Cooper did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The case was a rare criminal prosecution of emergency medical personnel. Following Mr. McClain’s death, several states, including Colorado, banned or restricted paramedics’ use of ketamine.
Mark Walker is a Times reporter who covers breaking news and culture.
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