Paramedics take the stand in their own defense in trial over Elijah McClain's death
The two paramedics charged in the death of Aurora Black man Elijah McClain took the stand in their own defense on Monday. Peter Cichuniec began testifying first in the trial for he and fellow paramedic Jeremy Cooper. Cooper was set to testify later in the day. Both are charged with criminally negligent homicide, reckless manslaughter and assault.
McClain died in 2019 after an encounter with Colorado first responders. After a confrontation with police officers from the Aurora Police Department the 23-year-old was injected with a dose of ketamine by the two paramedics.
Cichuniec was an Aurora Fire Rescue lieutenant at the time of the 2019 call. He was promoted to captain in late 2020. On Monday he answered questions about the initial calls that came in on the night in 2019 when McClain was confronted. McClain died several days later.
Cichuniec said in court that it took them a few minutes to get to the scene and there were a lot of police units on scene by the time they arrived. He said he saw three APD officers "struggling more than other combative calls I've been on before." He testified he heard the officers kept telling McClain to "stop...stop doing that."
Cichuniec told the court part of his reasonability that night was communicating with the ambulance crew and ensuring they knew where to park as it was a busy scene with several first responder vehicles. He said "it seemed like it was taking longer than usual" for the ambulance to arrive. As he went to look for the ambulance, Cichuniec told the court he saw an officer "body slam him (McClain) hard to the ground."
"My sense of urgency got a little broader," Cichuniec said, adding that he really wanted the ambulance to get there because "we needed our tools. We needed to help McClain as soon as we can."
Cichuniec testified that Cooper requested ketamine as they believed McClain had excited delirium.
"He was sweaty ... breathing very fast ... and with the struggling," Cichuniec told the court. "I couldn't hear any clear language from him. He seemed disoriented to me."
At the time of the incident, Cichuniec said the AFR protocol for a patient with excited delirium was to administer ketamine and testified there was no other option. AFR did not have ketamine available on their engines, so they relied on Faulk ambulance crews to provide the medication. Cichuniec said after a brief conversation with Cooper at the scene, they agreed a 500mg dose of ketamine was needed.
This is the third and final trial in the case of McClain's death. A jury found police officer Randy Roedema guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. Officers Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard were found not guilty.
