The case of two Aurora police officers on trial for Elijah McClain’s death went to the jury late Tuesday afternoon.

The 12 members now have to decide whether McClain’s death was a tragedy, but without criminal culpability, or the result of wanton excessive force by the officers.

Officer Randy Roedema and former Officer Jason Rosenblatt each face charges in Adams County of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault. Criminally negligent homicide is a lesser included charge for the manslaughter counts, which means the jury could choose to convict the officers of it if they decide the evidence doesn’t meet the burden for manslaughter.

Roedema’s attorneys agreed on Tuesday to third-degree assault as a lesser included charge to the second-degree assault charge. Causing serious bodily injury is the difference between the two.

Prosecutors said in closing arguments Tuesday the officers chose to use force at every part of the encounter rather than de-escalate the situation. They argued Roedema and Rosenblatt violated their training by ignoring McClain’s repeated pleas that he could not breathe, not monitoring his pulse or breathing and by not ensuring the paramedics called to the scene checked his vital signs.

“The cuffs went on, and before the ketamine went in, there was not a single thing Elijah McClain could’ve done to save his life,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber, his demeanor more forceful than at any other point during the trial.

No witnesses called in defense for Aurora officers charged in Elijah McClain’s death

The officers’ defense attorneys argued prosecutors have tried to appeal to the jurors’ emotions to distract from the fact that they can’t prove the officers caused McClain’s death.

Roedema actually used less force than would have been justified because he believed McClain was resisting, argued one of his attorneys, Donald Sisson. He believed he saw McClain try to grab Rosenblatt’s gun, and the officers had to react to a rapidly changing situation, without the benefit of watching body-worn camera footage in hindsight, he said.

“If they don’t act, they may not go home to their family that night,” Sisson said.

Prosecutors have said there’s no proof McClain tried to grab Rosenblatt’s gun.

Led by Officer Nathan Woodyard, the three officers stopped McClain as he walked home from a convenience store after buying iced tea. He wore a mask, which prosecutors said McClain did because he was often cold, and was listening to music. The officers had responded to a 911 call by a person who reported McClain was acting suspiciously. He had not been accused of a crime, however.

McClain told Woodyard he was going home. Woodyard grabbed McClain within 10 seconds, and told him, “I have the right to stop you because you’re being suspicious.”

The officers took McClain to the ground, and Woodyard put him in a neck hold called a carotid hold that caused him to briefly lose consciousness. Roedema is accused of keeping McClain facedown instead of making sure he was on his side to breathe and, at one point, yanking on his arm until a joint pops. Body-worn camera footage also shows him slamming McClain’s torso into the ground after McClain says, “I can’t fix myself.”

Footage captured Sgt. Dale Leonard on a phone call describing the stop while at the scene, saying McClain was “acting kind of weird. Guy’s got a mask on his face. Nothing really criminal.”

However, Judge Mark Warner instructed jurors not to consider whether the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop McClain.

A paramedic who came to the scene injected McClain with the sedative ketamine. He went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing shortly after. He died in a hospital a few days later after being declared brain dead.

Woodyard has a separate trial scheduled to start Friday.

Whether McClain actually reached for the officer’s gun is irrelevant, argued one of Rosenblatt’s defense attorneys, Harvey Steinberg. He said Rosenblatt had to adapt to the situation quickly and Roedema was a senior officer who sincerely believed he saw McClain reach for his fellow officer’s gun.

He suggested prosecutors have sought to make Rosenblatt a scapegoat for McClain’s death when the paramedics were actually responsible. The defense attorneys have pointed the finger at paramedics throughout the trial, arguing the officers did not have any authority over the decision to administer ketamine.

“You have to scratch your head, because the paramedics were right there. They were there for 11 minutes,” Steinberg said, his voice rising.

The two sides painted different pictures Tuesday of how medical experts called by prosecutors viewed what led to McClain’s death.

According to the defense attorneys, experts agreed ketamine caused his death, while prosecutors argued the doctors said the subdual and restraint of McClain played a role.

Two of their experts testified the restraint and carotid hold used on McClain led to elevated acid in his blood and vomiting, which he inhaled, that made him more vulnerable to the ketamine injection.

The officers’ defense attorneys did not call any witnesses. They filed a request for Warner to rule the attorney general’s office had not proven its case, which he declined to do last week.

‘The mammoth has escaped’: Prosecutors to finish Aurora officers’ case in Elijah McClain death with forensic pathologist

Special Assistant Attorney General Duane Lyons said the defense attorneys’ characterization of McClain’s death as a tragedy, but not criminal, trivializes the officers’ actions.

“His name was Elijah McClain, and he was going home,” Lyons said quietly. “He was somebody who mattered.”

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