The second day of jury selection this week ended with jurors chosen for the final criminal trial over Elijah McClain’s 2019 death in Aurora, and opening statements are expected Wednesday morning in 17th Judicial District Judge Mark Warner’s Adams County courtroom in Brighton. 

The jury will have to decide if two paramedics bear culpability for their decision to inject McClain with the sedative ketamine following a struggle with police.

Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec each face charges in Adams County of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and three counts each of second-degree assault. They have pleaded not guilty.

The assault charges include assault causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon (ketamine) and illegally administering the sedative without consent.

The 15 jurors appear to be mostly men, and include three alternates. Among the panel is a military servicemember who said his background makes him able to make decisions without the influence of emotion, and a woman who said any societal system is fallible because it’s run by people.

“I’ve sworn to protect the Constitution, and I believe in that. I’m also really good at following rules and doing what I’m told,” the potential juror said when asked to confirm if he could make an impartial decision in the case.

Prosecutors for the Colorado attorney general’s office have hinted they plan to argue the firefighters didn’t simply make a mistake by giving McClain the powerful sedative, but did so without properly assessing him or checking his vital signs.

McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, went into cardiac arrest shortly after Cooper injected him with 500 milligrams of ketamine. He was pronounced brain dead in a hospital three days later.

In a jury selection process, attorneys on each side is also allowed to excuse a limited number of jurors without stating a reason – called peremptory strikes – as long as dismissal is not based on someone’s identity in a protected class of people, such as race or religion.

Those potential jurors excused by prosecutors included a man who said he’s a retired EMT trainer, and spoke about his knowledge of standards of care. The jury will be asked to judge whether the paramedics deviated from their expected standard of care in a way that amounts to criminal responsibility for McClain’s death.

Jury selection starts for Aurora paramedics’ trial over Elijah McClain’s death

Warner allowed each side 10 strikes without cause. One of Cooper’s attorneys said they would accept the jury panel after making only two strikes – Cichuniec’s attorney made two more after that – and prosecutors said they would accept the panel after making four. 

Aurora firefighters supporting Cooper and Cichuniec filled one side of the courtroom Tuesday during the final phase of jury selection.

Three Aurora police officers stopped McClain the night of Aug. 24, 2019, as he walked home from a convenience store because a 911 caller had reported a suspicious person when he spotted McClain, who was listening to music and wearing a mask that covered most of his face. McClain, seemingly caught off guard, tried to keep walking. He was unarmed and had not been accused of any crime.

An officer used a neck hold that temporarily restricts the flow of oxygen to a person’s brain, prompting police to call for paramedics, while officers restrained him on the ground.

Cooper and Cichuniec denied being told the neck hold had been applied, according to their indictment. Prior to the ketamine injection, they stood near McClain but did not speak to him. 

Cooper injected him with 500 milligrams of the ketamine, a dose appropriate for someone who weighed more than 200 pounds, according to the firefighters’ indictment. McClain weighed 143 pounds.

The three police officers already have gone to trial, and two were acquitted after prosecutors argued their forceful subdual of McClain kicked off a cycle of health complications that made him more vulnerable to the ketamine.

Final trial over Elijah McClain’s death in suburban Denver spotlights paramedics’ role