AURORA, Colo. — Training of the two Aurora officers currently on trial in connection with the 2019 death of Elijah McClain was the focus of hours of court testimony on Thursday.
Aurora Police Sergeant Kevin Smyth, who oversees the training unit at the department, developed many of the trainings and spent hours on the witness stand detailing them to jurors.
Suspended Aurora Police officer Randy Roedema, 41, and former officer Jason Rosenblatt, 34 are among five people indicted in 2021 in connection with McClain's death. Both are charged with reckless manslaughter and second-degree assault.
A third officer and two paramedics, who injected McClain with ketamine, were also indicted and will go to trial later this year.
McClain, 23, was contacted on Aug. 23, 2019, after a 911 caller reported a suspicious person wearing a coat and mask over his face.
Shortly after the first officer contacted McClain, he was taken to the ground and handcuffed. During that takedown, a carotid hold was used, which was allowed under the department's policy at the time.
That same night, McClain was injected with ketamine by paramedics. His heart stopped, and he died several days later.
A large portion of Thursday's testimony focused on Rosenblatt and Roedema's training on the carotid hold. According to Smyth, both had been trained on the maneuver within weeks of the encounter with McClain.
Roedema had the training in June 2019, while Rosenblatt completed his training the day before the incident on Aug. 23, 2019. Through the maneuver, an officer places their arm around someone's neck in such a way that it places pressure on the carotid artery which restricts blood flow to the brain and causes the person to briefly become unconscious.
According to Smyth's testimony any time the carotid hold is applied, officers are required to call for medical and tell them the hold was used.
"If they did not tell the paramedics that they attempted the carotid control hold they would be in violation not only training but violation of policy," Smyth said. "Yes, there are things that need to be communicated to medical so they have the best opportunity to provide care."
Officers are also required to take certain actions which include checking for a pulse and looking and feeling for breathing.
He said they're also supposed to make sure the person is coherent. They could do that he said, by asking the person questions and verifying that their responses are appropriate.
Prosecutors also focused on the training officers receive to help them recognize when someone is in respiratory distress. Smyth said if someone says 'I can't breathe," even once, officers are trained to take that seriously and treat it as a medical emergency.
During his testimony, jurors were shown a slide from the training presentation that indicated that it is a myth that if someone is talking, they're able to breathe.
"It's a pervasive phrase, but we're addressing it because an officer can be blind to certain signs if they truly believe it's true," Smyth said. "A person could be able to talk but still have an issue with respirations."
Another slide shown to the jury listed "sudden quiet" as a possible indication of respiratory distress.
A prior witness, Dr. David Beuther, from National Jewish Health, testified about how he saw McClain's condition deteriorate throughout the evening based on body-worn camera footage. He noted that McClain said he couldn't breathe and at times appeared to be panting and was eventually "barely talking."
Earlier, jurors heard about the amount of ketamine found in McClain's blood and the impact it could have had on his body.
Michael Lamb, a forensic toxicologist who analyzed the results of testing done on a sample of McClain's blood, said marijuana and ketamine were the only substances found.
Lamb works at a private medical lab in Pennsylvania and said their lab performed testing at the request of the Adam County Coroner's Office.
The amount of ketamine in McClain's system is a key issue in the trial because defense attorneys for Roedema and Rosenblatt have said it was the sedative, and not the officers' action, that killed McClain.
Medical records reviewed by Lamb show that McClain was injected with 500 milligrams of ketamine. Based on his analysis, Lamb testified Thursday, that he calculated the amount of ketamine in McClain's blood sample to be 7.7 milligrams per kilogram. A typical dose to sedate someone for a medical procedure is between 4 and 6 milligrams per kilogram, according to court testimony.
He also said adverse effects of ketamine could include vomiting and nausea. He was asked specifically about whether a side effect could be aspiration of vomit, which is when someone inhales vomit into their lungs. He confirmed that was a possible adverse effect.
On cross-examination, the defense honed in on the marijuana found in McClain's system, but Lamb insisted that he could not draw any conclusions about how it might have impacted McClain's behavior because people react differently. He also said it was impossible to know whether McClain had used marijuana on that day or on prior days.
Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, the two paramedics who responded to the call, are set for trial in November. They are each charged with reckless manslaughter and numerous counts of assault.
Another officer, Nathan Woodyard, who was the first to respond to the call about McClain, was also indicted on a charge of reckless manslaughter. His trial is set to begin in mid-October.
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