Attorney Harvey Steinberg walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of the Elijah McClain trial Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton, Colo. The trial is expected to open soon against two police officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was forcibly detained while walking down a street near Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Defendant Jason Rosenblatt walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of the Elijah McClain trial Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton, Colo. The trial is expected to open soon against two police officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was forcibly detained while walking down a street near Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Defendant Randy Roedema walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of the Elijah McClain trial Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton, Colo. The trial is expected to open soon against two police officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was forcibly detained while walking down a street near Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Attorney Ken Kotarski walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Defense Attorney Redi Elkus and defendant Randy Roedema walk into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Defense Attorney Stephen Burstein walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Attorney Jason Slothouber walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Attorney Reid Elkus walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Prosecutor Jonathan Bunge walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Defendant Randy Roedema walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Defendant Jason Rosenblatt walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Attorney Duane Lyons walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Attorney Duane Lyons walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) 
Attorney Jason Slothouber walks into the Adams County Justice Center for the start of a trial of two of the police officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Brighton Colo. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
BRIGHTON | Prosecutors are expected to present opening statements after jury selection wraps up Wednesday in the trial of two police officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was detained while walking in Aurora.
In the first of several trials stemming from the death of McClain, lawyers for the two sides are expected to paint contrasting pictures of the deadly struggle between the officers and the 23-year-old, who was stopped by police while returning home from a convenience store. He was unarmed.
One question jurors could be asked to decide is whether it was lawful for officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt to detain and use force against McClain, who a 911 caller had reported as being suspicious. If prosecutors can convince jurors the stop was unjustified, that would undermine any argument that McClain’s injuries were a result of the officers just doing their jobs.
Roedema and Rosenblatt are both charged with criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter and assault in a trial expected to last about a month. They have pleaded not guilty but have never spoken publicly about the allegations against them. A third officer and two paramedics facing charges in McClain’s death are scheduled for trial later this year.
Charges were not brought for two years after McClain’s death, by which time the case along with others had sparked outrage and a national reckoning over racial injustice in American policing.
Police stopped McClain on Aug. 24, 2019, while he was walking down a street listening to music in the city of Aurora after a 911 caller reported a man who seemed “sketchy.” McClain, a massage therapist who was often cold, was wearing a ski mask and a jacket despite the warm weather.
Officer Nathan Woodyard, who is set to go on trial later this year, was the first to approach McClain, and was soon joined by Roedema and Rosenblatt.
McClain, using earbuds, initially kept walking as he carried a plastic bag and his phone. Within ten seconds, Woodyard put his hands on McClain, turning him around. As McClain tried to escape his grip, Woodyard said, “Relax, or I’m going to have to change this situation.”
The encounter with police quickly escalated, with officers taking him to the ground and putting him in a neck hold. Paramedics arrived and injected McClain with ketamine, a sedative that was legal at the time to give to people showing erratic behavior. McClain subsequently suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. He was pronounced dead three days later.
The paramedics and officers were also indicted along with the police officers by a state grand jury in 2021 and are also awaiting trial.
The indictments followed an outcry over McClain’s death during protests ignited by the police killing of George Floyd. McClain’s pleading words captured on body camera stating, “I’m an introvert and I’m different,” drew widespread attention after Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.
In 2019, a local district attorney, Dave Young, decided against prosecuting the officers largely because the coroner’s office could not determine exactly how McClain died. He called McClain’s death “tragic,” but said that finding made it hard to prove that the officers’ actions caused his death.
A revised coroner’s report was issued in 2021, relying in part on information from the grand jury investigation, and found that the cause of death was complications from the powerful sedative ketamine after McClain was forcibly restrained. McClain, who weighed 140 pounds overdosed because he received a higher dose of ketamine than recommended for someone of his size, pathologist Stephen Cina found.
“I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine,” Cina had said.
Cina said he couldn’t rule out whether the stress of being held down by the officers may have contributed to McClain’s death.
The reality comes down to a simple understanding. Yes, Elijah McClain’s death was a tragedy. It contributed to the knee jerk police reform bill. That bill drove thousands of good officers out of the job and is making more consider leaving. Something that you should understand. If you can hire more officers, they will have the same problem. The leaders in law enforcement have not stood to explain the problems with the vague “reform” bill. Implied immunity is not the blanket protection that the media and the legislature made it out to be. Again, no one to speak for the police and to explain it. Right now, community policing is dead. A great deal of criminal conduct is prevented by the knowledge that officers will stop them for suspicious behavior or minor violations. In doing so, they discover that the person is wanted or is unlawfully carrying a weapon or drugs. All of those minor stops are what keep things more under control. Right now, the criminals realize that there are no officers to stop them and that if they are stopped they don’t have to cooperate. If anyone can just ignore an officer and walk away, then none of our laws are enforceable. Pick any law you want. Want to see more drunken and reckless driving? Want to see trash everywhere? Want to see pedophiles outside the schools who won’t be bothered? Want panhandlers free to get in your face and defecate outside the restaurant? I can go on forever. You can see right now that retail theft is huge. The criminals know that no one will stop them. It will only get worse. They aren’t stealing because they need food for their kids. It isn’t the severity of the punishment that deters crime, it is the certainty of getting caught and punished. Right now, our justice system favors the criminal and getting caught and punished are doubtful, at best. The public think that they support the police. They have no idea what the legislature did to law enforcement with their badly flawed police reform bill (SB217). The bill makes everything a use of force. So, if I touch you to move you out of the way to get to a fire, I have illegally used force. When the State Troopers physically removed some protesters at the Capitol, without arresting them, they unlawfully used force. They don’t seem to have read the police reform bill. The police can no longer use any type of force (from pushing to tear gas) to break up a crowd that is vandalizing businesses. They can only defend themselves or make arrests. If a criminal shoots someone and is running toward a school with his gun in his hand, the police cannot shoot him. I can go on, but I won’t. At any rate, if you want the police to actually be able to protect you, you must understand that force is necessary to do so. You cannot just say that someone can walk away from the police or resist them. We must teach that citizens have an obligation to cooperate with the police. There are mechanisms in place for complaints. The body cams make it easy for the supervisors to follow ups on bad conduct. They make it easy for the public to pursue their case if they are treated improperly. Council Person Marcano told me that the police don’t prevent anything. 37 years of experience as an officer taught me otherwise. I know from experience, not from theorizing. Right now, we are trying to rush officers out onto the street. Police training has always been inadequate, despite what police politicians tell you. Now, we will have hastily trained officers who are given guidance not to stop anyone. Real improvement? Put that with the fact that the newest generation have been protected all of their lives and now they will deal with every kind of insult. Add the fact that their bosses will not support them and see where that goes. Psychologists say that change comes from a significant emotional event or long term dissatisfaction. That means that each of you will have to be mugged soon or we will have to wait years of no police service for you to realize that we must change our approach. I will be watching without holding my breath.