DENVER — A Colorado court reversed homicide convictions against two paramedics Thursday in the ketamine overdose death of Elijah McClain after the Black man was pinned down by police.
The appeals court ordered new trials for Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec. McClain had been forcibly restrained by police, who responded to a suspicious person complaint and stopped him as the massage therapist walked home from a convenience store in 2019.
A jury in 2023 found Cooper and Cichuniec guilty of criminally negligent homicide following a weekslong trial in state district court.
Cooper avoided prison and was sentenced to 14 months in jail with work release and probation. Cichuniec received a more severe punishment after being convicted on an additional charge of felony assault. The appeals court affirmed that assault conviction.
In both cases, the appeals court faulted the instructions given to jurors with respect to the criminally negligent homicide charges before they deliberated.
