The memorial site across the street from where 23-year-old Elijah McClain was stopped by Aurora, Colo., Police Department officers while walking home during a news conference Friday, July 3, 2020, in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
McClain family attorney Mari Newman speaks to a crowd of hundreds during a July 3, 2020 press conference following the release of photos of police officers mocking a carotid hold on the site of where Elijah McClain had his fateful encounter with APD. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Candice Bailey yells to protestors with raw emotion, June 27, 2020 at the Aurora Municipal Center. Thousands gathered to protest and pay tribute to Elijah McClain, who died last year after an encounter with three officers from the Aurora Police Department. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, is pictured June 27, 2020, at the Aurora Municipal Center. Thousands gathered to protest and pay tribute to Elijah McClain, who died last year after an encounter with three officers from the Aurora Police Department. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Police officers and sheriffs deputies in riot gear forced protestors from The Great Lawn, claiming unlawful assembly, June 27, 2020, at the Aurora Municipal Center. Thousands gathered to protest and pay tribute to Elijah McClain, who died last year after an encounter with three officers from the Aurora Police Department. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
A wanted sign with the three officers who were involved in the encounter with Elijah McCLain hangs on a lamp post June 27, 2020, at the Aurora Municipal Center. Thousands gathered to protest and pay tribute to Elijah McClain, who died last year after an encounter with the three officers from the Aurora Police Department. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Hundreds of demonstrators at a June 27 Elijah McClain protest march north on I-225, shutting down the interstate. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
File-In this Nov. 23, 2019, file photo, Mari Newman, the family attorney of Elijah McClain, speaks to the media during a press conference outside the Aurora Municipal Center after the police department released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain in Aurora, Colo. McClain died after being stopped by three Aurora Police Department officers while walking through the east Denver suburb in late August 2019. (Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado via AP, File) 
A mural of Elijah McClain was painted by Thomas “Detour” Evans on June 8, 2020 in the River North Art District in north Denver. Evans tweeted that he hopes to paint one in Aurora soon. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Hundreds of protestors turned out to Aurora City Hall Saturday June 6, 2020, focusing on the death of Aurora blacks at the hands of local police. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
The McClain family’s attorney, Mari Newman, right, hugs Elijah McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, during a press conference, Nov. 23, at the Aurora Municipal Center, after the APD released the body camera footage of Elijah McClain the previous evening. Photo by Philip B. Poston/Sentinel Colorado 
Elijah McClain in the hospital after his encounter with the Aurora Police Department Photo courtesy of Sheneen McClain 
Elijah McClain, a few weeks before his death. His friends and family said he was somewhat odd but a notably peaceful person who loved his career as a massage therapist. PHOTO SUPPLIED 
Elijah McClain Photo courtesy of Sheneen McClain 
From left to right, the father of Elijah McClain, their lawyer, and Elijah’s mother. From a press conference and protest at Aurora city hall Oct. 1, 2019. PHOTO BY PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel Colorado 
Screen shot from Aurora Police press conference and body cam video regarding the officer-involved death of Elijah McClain
AURORA | Aurora residents got a glimpse of what the city’s new investigation into the death of Elijah McClain may look like on Thursday, when a city council panel granted initial approval to a resolution outlining the shape of the upcoming query and proposing a Washington D.C.-based civil rights attorney as the lead investigator.
The three members of the city’s public safety policy committee signed off on the rejiggered independent investigation without objection at a regular meeting July 16, teeing up discussion of the probe by the full council at a study session July 20.
The city’s new investigation will primarily examine city policies related to McClain’s arrest, including use of force by police officers and the use of ketamine by Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics. McClain was stopped by a trio of officers on Aug. 24 2019 in the 1900 block of Billings Street after a passerby called 911 and described him as “sketchy.” Officers placed McClain, who was unarmed and never suspected of a crime, into a now-banned control hold that caused him to briefly faint. He went into cardiac arrest shortly thereafter and died at a hospital six days later.
A panel of at least three expert consultants will run the city’s forthcoming investigation, according to the draft resolution discussed Thursday. Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, will lead the investigative panel.
Smith headed special litigation for the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice for five years in the Obama Administration, according to a biography posted on his group’s website. He helped lead the probe into the civil investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department after the death of Michael Brown in August 2014.
Along with the FBI, the same division of the DOJ is also looking into the Aurora Police Department for its handling of McClain’s death, federal authorities announced late last month.
State Attorney General Phil Weiser, too, has been named a special prosecutor to head yet another investigation into McClain’s death that will focus on possible criminal charges against the officers and paramedics involved. The district attorney who initially looked into McClain’s death, Dave Young, declined to levy any criminal charges against first responders last November, saying he couldn’t meet the legal threshold needed for prosecution.
The McClain family’s attorney, Mari Newman, has said she also plans to initiate her own investigation into the case.
Allison Hiltz, who serves as chairwoman of the public safety committee, said officials have faced some initial hiccups finding a medical consultant that can look into paramedics’ use of ketamine on McClain. She said several possible investigators have presented conflicts of interest, though possible candidates are expected to be presented to council at the next scheduled study session on Monday.
The city jettisoned a previous investigator hired to look into the McClain case in February due to his standing ties to law enforcement. Hiltz, as well as council members Curtis Gardner and Angela Lawson, said attorney Eric Daigle, a former Connecticut state trooper, was incapable of serving as an independent voice. City Manager Jim Twombly eventually agreed and axed his contract, which stipulated Daigle would be paid $225 per hour.
The city’s investigation does not have a deadline for completion, though investigators are urged to complete the query “as expeditiously as possible,” according to city documents.