In a significant legal development within the ongoing collisions of police power, legal rights, and racial justice, a Colorado jury has retuned a not guilty verdict for Aurora Police Officer Nathan Woodyard, representing the third police officer charged in relation to the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain in 2019. The JURIST report details the multiple charges laid against Woodyard, which included manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, leading to the latest verdict.
Officer Woodyard was one of five individuals, including three police officers and two paramedics, charged with a 32-count indictment. The incident transpired when the Aurora Police Department received a 911 call concerning McClain, who was reportedly walking down a street adorned with a facial mask and carrying a plastic bag. Officer Woodyard, along with two other officers arriving shortly, escalated their interaction with McClain, culminating in a physical attempt to restraint McClain.
To control McClain, Woodyard employed what is referred to as a carotid control hold, a maneuver that has since been banned. Despite McClain holding no weapons and merely bearing a plastic bag deemed “suspicious,” the struggle to prevail over McClain persisted.
Later on, paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper, also part of the 32-count indictment and awaiting trial, administered a larger-than-recommended dosage of ketamine to McClain, resulting in an overdose. An amended 2021 autopsy report identified McClain’s cause of death as “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.”
Evidence during Woodyard’s trial included a testimony from an expert witness, Dr. Nadia Tereschenko. According to the emergency response expert, the police’s overriding role is to ensure safety, with medical care falling under the paramedics’ purview. However, the standard was reportedly breached when the paramedics failed to conduct a comprehensive assessment prior to the administration of the drug.
In an earlier trial in October, the Colorado jury found another officer, Randy Roedema, guilty of criminally negligent homicide, while acquitting officer Jason Rosenblatt. The implications of these verdicts were further underscored when an independent investigation panel reviewed the incident and concluded that the officers had no reasonable suspicion for the stop.
The panel’s recommendation included the Aurora Police Department reevaluating its training and supervision of its officers and reformulating its use-of-force policies as well as deescalation tactics in the wake of McClain’s tragic death.