A Colorado appeals court reverses homicide convictions for two paramedics, ordering new trials in the death of Elijah McClain. McClain, a Black man, died after police pinned him down and paramedics injected him with ketamine in 2019. Both Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper were convicted in 2023, but the appeals court determines that errors occurred in the jury instructions used at trial. The rulings do not settle the underlying facts of McClain’s death, but they require the cases to be retried, with juries instructed correctly under the court’s guidance.
Multiple outlets report that the court’s decision centers on procedural issues rather than a direct acquittal. The news coverage also notes the case’s broader public impact, as McClain’s final recorded words—“I can’t breathe”—were later cited in the national debate on policing and emergency medical responses in 2020. The ordered retrials will determine whether prosecutors can again prove their homicide charges under revised legal standards.
