AURORA, Colo. — After three weeks of testimony, an Adams County jury acquitted Officer Nathan Woodyard in connection with the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.
Woodyard was found not guilty Monday of reckless manslaughter and of the lesser included charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Testimony in the trial began on Oct. 17.
Woodyard was suspended from the department without pay pending the outcome of the trial. When asked the status of Woodyard's employment Monday, an Aurora city spokesperson said they don't yet know what the next steps will be, but the city charter will guide those steps.
The trial
Woodyard was the first Aurora officer to contact McClain on Aug. 24, 2019, after a teenage boy called 911 and relayed that he saw McClain wearing a coat and mask and acting "suspicious."
He grabbed McClain within eight seconds of approaching him. After grabbing him, Woodyard and fellow officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt subdued and restrained him. In the midst of the struggle, Roedema shouted that McClain had attempted to grab Rosenblatt’s gun – an act the prosecution asserts did not happen.
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Those words, however, prompted officers to take McClain to the ground. During that struggle, Woodyard used a carotid hold on McClain, a maneuver that caused him to briefly lose consciousness. Afterward, he was handcuffed and restrained on the ground for more than 10 minutes.
Later that same night, paramedics injected McClain with the sedative ketamine and his heart stopped. He later died.
Prosecutors allege that Woodyard's action of grabbing McClain within seconds instead of talking to him escalated the situation unnecessarily - and if he had chosen to de-escalate, McClain would have continued his walk home.
"At every single turn he chose to escalate," prosecutor Jason Slothauber said during his closing arguments on Friday.
Specifically, Slothauber argued that Woodyard's use of the carotid hold set off a series of medical issues for McClain that put him in a grave condition before paramedics gave him ketamine.
"The carotid hold that the defendant did contributed to and helped cause Elijah McClain's death," Slothabuer said. "It's part of the continuum that Dr. Mitchell was talking about that made Elijah so fragile that put him in such a dangerous position before paramedics - absolutely inappropriately- dose him with ketamine. But when the defendant's actions put him in that position when the paramedics also make a bad choice, it is so much more dangerous."
After the maneuver, medical experts testified that McClain suffered from hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen, and a condition known as acidosis, where too much acid builds up in the body. He also aspirated - or inhaled his own vomit into his lungs.
As a result, McClain went from talking to being silent in the minutes before he was given the sedative.
Woodyard's attorneys argued that he removed McClain's mask when he heard him say he couldn't breathe and believed that he had alleviated any breathing issues by doing so. Shortly after, he left the area because he was "overwhelmed" and only returned just prior to McClain being given ketamine.
Andrew Ho told the jury that Woodyard could not be held responsible for what others did or did not do.
"If he does not know that Fire is going to OD McClain without doing a proper assessment - then he is not guilty," Ho said during his closings.
Other trials
A separate jury heard the case against Roedema and Rosenblatt. Jurors in that trial acquitted Rosenblatt of all charges but convicted Roedema of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. He's set to be sentenced in January.
The trial for Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, the paramedics who responded to the call, is set to begin on Nov. 27.
They are each charged with reckless manslaughter and numerous counts of assault. Both are suspended without pay while they await trial.
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