Aurora paramedics’ defense attorneys rest case in McClain death trial | Aurora
Defense attorneys for the two Aurora paramedics on trial for Elijah McClain’s 2019 death wrapped up their cases by questioning a trained paramedic from Memphis who testified that the defendants did not violate their standard of care.
Robyn McKinley, an EMT lieutenant at the Memphis Fire Department, testified Tuesday she didn’t believe Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec broke any Aurora Fire Rescue protocols by not monitoring McClain’s vital signs until after one had injected him with 500 milligrams of the sedative ketamine and loaded him into an ambulance a few minutes later.
McClain went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing within a few minutes of receiving the ketamine. The medics are accused of administering the drug to McClain – with a dose too large for his weight – following a struggle with police officers without speaking to McClain or physically examining him, instead only relying on officers’ accounts of his behavior.
McKinley said on the stand the fire department’s protocols at the time weren’t specific about exactly when a patient should be hooked up to equipment for monitoring their vital signs when paramedics have decided to give them ketamine.
It would not have been practical to use monitoring equipment on McClain before the the ketamine took effect because she saw him still thrashing around when Cooper injected the sedative, McKinley said.
“If they’re actively struggling, especially in police custody, then the scene is not quite secure yet,” McKinley said.
She added she never saw McClain struggling to breathe or in a position that would have restricted his airway. Medical experts hired by the attorney general’s office testified McClain suffered from a dangerous cycle of not getting enough oxygen, acid building up in his blood and vomiting, which he then inhaled into his lungs because he couldn’t clear his airway while pinned on the ground.
The paramedics believed McClain was suffering from “excited delirium” when they arrived, a diagnosis typically described as an onset of symptoms such as extreme aggression, strength, resistance to pain and paranoia.
At the time of the incident, Aurora paramedics were trained that excited delirium could lead to death because of acid buildup in a person’s body from exertion, and ketamine was the only drug available to treat the condition.
On cross-examination, Senior Assistant attorney General Jason Slothouber pushed back on McKinley’s testimony that the paramedics didn’t do anything wrong by not trying to talk with McClain themselves.
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“No matter what the patient is doing, you can always at least try to talk to them,” he said.
Three Aurora police officers stopped McClain, 23, as he walked home from a convenience store the night of Aug. 24, 2019 because a person called 911 to report seeing someone who looked suspicious. The officers subdued McClain, handcuffed him and one used a neck hold that temporarily restricted oxygen to his brain.
A doctor declared him brain dead in the hospital three days after the encounter.
Slothouber also questioned McKinley’s decision to include in her expert report a statement McClain made before paramedics arrived, “I intend to take my power back,” but leave out things he said after they got there such as “Please help me” and “I can’t fix myself.”
Cooper and Cichuniec each face charges of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and two counts each of second-degree assault for the circumstances around their decision to administer ketamine. The assault charges include assault causing serious bodily injury and unlawfully drugging McClain without consent.
In the context of criminal charges, recklessness means consciously ignoring a known risk of a person’s actions. Negligence refers to a person failing to perceive a substantial risk of their actions through a “gross” deviation from a reasonable standard of care.
The paramedics have pleaded not guilty.
The attorney general’s office and defense attorneys expect to present closing arguments Wednesday.
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