An Adams County jury now has to decide whether the decision by two Aurora paramedics to inject Elijah McClain with ketamine in 2019 was a tragic mistake or a crime.

Prosecutors from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and the paramedics’ defense attorneys presented their closing arguments to jurors Wednesday afternoon. The 12-member jury will begin deliberating Thursday.

Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and then-Lt. Peter Cichuniec are accused of choosing to administer a 500 milligram dose of the sedative ketamine to McClain – a dose too large for his weight, according to the fire department’s protocols at the time – following a struggle with police officers without speaking to McClain or physically examining him, instead only relying on officers’ accounts of his behavior and guessing his weight.

“They knew nothing. They learned nothing. They asked no questions. They didn’t care,” said Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson.

Aurora paramedics’ defense attorneys rest case in McClain death trial

Prosecutors argue the fire medics know about the risks of ketamine’s side effects, including potential respiratory arrest, and failed to monitor McClain’s vital signs before or after Cooper made the injection.

McClain went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing within a few minutes of receiving the ketamine. He died in a hospital a few days later.

The paramedics said they believed McClain was suffering from “excited delirium” when they arrived, a controversial diagnosis typically described as an onset of symptoms such as extreme aggression, strength, resistance to pain and paranoia.

Cichuniec testified that he decided McClain should get a 500 milligram dose – the maximum allowed at the time without a doctor’s approval – because the medic didn’t want to risk under-medicating him.

At the time of the incident, Aurora paramedics were trained that excited delirium could lead to death because of acid buildup in a person’s body from exertion, and ketamine was the only drug available to treat the condition.

Defense attorneys argued they were able to visually assess McClain’s vital signs. But the police prevented them from taking full control of McClain as their patient, the medics’ attorneys say, continuing to manhandle him and refusing to take McClain’s handcuffs off.

Prosecutors said Wednesday the paramedics, particularly Cooper, would have understood McClain’s cries, such as “Ow, ow,” and his final words, “Please help me,” had they listened. But Cooper had already made up his mind that McClain needed ketamine and didn’t pay attention to any cues from his words and behavior, they said.

“It’s the medical equivalent of putting on a blindfold, jumping in a car and slamming the gas,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber, returning to an analogy he made several times during his closing arguments.

He pointed out McClain’s plea for help and coherent responses to the pain of a police officer manhandling him ran contrary to Cooper’s assertion, during an interview with a police detective a few weeks later, that he only heard “gibberish” from McClain. Slothouber also played footage of Cooper telling the detective McClain kept trying to escape and walk across the grassy area he was subdued on.

The defense attorneys argued it’s not fair to judge their actions with the benefit of hindsight, which has included body-worn camera footage and opinions from medical experts. Nitpicking details about what they could have done differently doesn’t equate to criminal liability, their attorneys argued.

Aurora paramedics testify, allege police hindered Elijah McClain treatment

David Goddard, who represents Cichuniec, said it doesn’t matter whether McClain actually suffered from excited delirium. What matters, he argued, is whether the paramedics had reason to believe he did based on what they knew and didn’t know at the scene.

Cooper and Cichuniec had plenty of reason to believe the police were still in an active struggle when they arrived, their attorneys said: They saw an unusual number of cop cars at the scene. They saw several officers on top of someone restrained on the ground and heard them tell the person to “stop fighting.”

They heard McClain was “on something,” not responsive to questions, had displayed extreme strength and could see he was breathing fast and sweating.

But the paramedics also didn’t get the full picture of the encounter because the police failed to give them other crucial information, their attorneys argued. Goddard said they didn’t know how the beginning of the police’s encounter with McClain had gone, that he had thrown up after one officer used a neck hold on him and said seven times he couldn’t breathe.

“They made their decisions in real time based on what they could see and what information they had,” Goddard said.

Three Aurora police officers stopped McClain, 23, as he walked home from a convenience store the night of Aug. 24, 2019 because a person called 911 to report seeing someone who looked suspicious. 

The officers subdued McClain, handcuffed him and one used a neck hold that temporarily restricted oxygen to his brain.

Mike Pellow, one of Cooper’s defense attorneys, said McClain should still be alive, and sought to direct blame to the officers escalating the encounter with him so quickly. He suggested the paramedics face charges because of outrage over the tragedy of McClain’s death and a demand for accountability. He argued they had to make a quick decision, guided by their training that ketamine was necessary to treat excited delirium, which they were taught could turn fatal if not treated.

“We implore you not to make this tragedy worse by convicting him,” he said.

Cooper and Cichuniec each face charges of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide as a lesser included count and two counts each of second-degree assault. The assault charges include assault causing serious bodily injury and unlawfully drugging McClain without consent.

Recklessness means consciously ignoring a known risk of a person’s actions. Negligence refers to a person failing to perceive a substantial risk of their actions through a blatant deviation from a reasonable standard of care.

The paramedics have pleaded not guilty.

Paramedic training expert questioned about Aurora medics’ actions

A separate jury convicted one officer, Randy Roedema, of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. The jury acquitted another, former officer Jason Rosenblatt.

Nathan Woodyard, who used the neck hold on McClain and was the first officer to stop him, was acquitted by a third jury of reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.