Paramedics’ convictions tossed in Elijah McClain’s death
AURORA, Colo. — Two former Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics convicted in connection with the 2019 death of Elijah McClain will be retried following a ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals.
In September 2021, a statewide grand jury indicted Cooper and fellow paramedic Peter Cichuniec in McClain’s death. They went to trial together and were both convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
Both appealed their convictions separately and both had their convictions reversed and sent back for new trials for the criminally negligent homicide charge.
The appeals court agreed there was an error in the instruction of the standard of care as it related to the charge of criminally negligent homicide and tossed out those convictions.
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Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 6 hours ago
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michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
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michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
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Kyla Pearce
kyla.pearce@gazette.com
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michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
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Colorado Supreme Court end-of-term stats, federal judges’ backlogs increase | COURT CRAWL
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The state Supreme Court’s term revealed increased division among the justices in their opinions, plus Colorado’s federal judges have started to accumulate more overdue motions...
Finding of no discrimination against former Cherry Creek Schools principal upheld
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 days ago
The Denver-based federal appeals court agreed on Friday that a judge properly resolved a former Cherry Creek School District administrator’s claims of discrimination in the district’s favor based on employees’ “loss of confidence” in her leadership. Linda Maccagnan was a...
Arapahoe County murder prosecution botched a second time as appeals court reverses for same mistake
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 days ago
Colorado’s second-highest court reversed a man’s felony murder conviction for the second time on Thursday after an Arapahoe County prosecutor made the same mistake that triggered reversal of the defendant’s first conviction years earlier. Although David Alberto Garcia was not...
Federal judge dismisses lawyer’s disability discrimination claims against judge
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 days ago
A federal judge dismissed a lawyer’s discrimination claims last month against a judge in El Paso County who allegedly failed to provide reasonable accommodations for her long COVID disability. Andrea M. Hall sued District Court Judge Chad Miller and his...
Ex-Broncos linebacker’s discrimination lawsuit returned to Colorado court
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 days ago
A federal judge returned a former Broncos linebacker’s disability discrimination lawsuit to state court last month, rejecting the NFL defendants’ attempt to keep the case in federal court. Randy Gregory, who played for the Broncos between 2022 and 2023, sued...
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