Colorado’s Attorney General recently announced that former paramedic Jeremy Cooper was sentenced in a state court to four years probation, 14 months of work release, and 100 hours of community service. This followed Cooper’s conviction last December on charges of negligent homicide relating to the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man.
McClain had been stopped and placed in a chokehold by police officers in Aurora, Colorado in August 2019. Cooper and one of his colleagues subsequently injected him with ketamine to sedate him. McClain suffered a cardiac arrest and later died in hospital. Local prosecutors initially rejected calls to charge the officers involved, leading Colorado Governor Jared Polis to order the state’s attorney general to investigate the case.
An independent investigation later found that the officers had no legal basis for the stop and subsequent treatment. All officers and paramedics on the scene were indicted in September 2021. While one officer was convicted of negligent homicide, two others were acquitted. Both paramedics were convicted of negligent homicide, with Cooper’s colleague also convicted of assault.
In the sentencing phase, while criminal defendants have a right to a trial by jury, the judge determines the sentence after conviction. In this case, prison time was not deemed necessary for Cooper, as the judge did not find evidence to suggest that Cooper intentionally overdosed McClain.
The Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser, commented on the sentencing: “With this sentence, we now have accountability for another defendant who failed to act the way the law requires, and we have a measure of justice for Elijah McClain, his family, and loved ones. There were many things that the officers and paramedics could have done the night of August 24, 2019 to prevent this deadly encounter.”
Despite the conclusions of this case, instances of police brutality in the US remain an ongoing concern. Recent instances include three police officers in California being charged with involuntary manslaughter of a detainee and a police sergeant in Washington D.C. pleading guilty to charges of excessive force and involuntary manslaughter following the fatal shooting of a man.